Photo/Shetuwang

Feb. 19 (NBD) – The Chinese auto market continues to be sluggish in 2019 after the market recorded the first ever negative growth in 28 years last year.

Statistics released on Monday by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed in January 2019, the auto sales volume stood at 2.3673 million units, decreasing by 15.76 percent over the previous year. The number of passenger cars sold in January only reached 2.0211 million, a record-low beginning in recent five years.

It was expected in the auto market that this year will see a slight growth or decline. But last month's car sales were obviously less than expected.

Despite an unsatisfactory start, plenty of insiders held that stimulated by the policy to be issued for promoting vehicles in rural areas, the auto market will possibly rebound this year.

It's worth noting that there was a huge gap among vehicles from self-developed brands and luxury brands respectively.

The sales volume of vehicles from self-developed car brands last month was 832,000 units, a year-over-year drop of 22.2 percent. Self-developed cars only occupied 41.2 percent of the total market share, down by 2.4 percentage points. 

NBD noticed self-developed car makers such as BYD and Geely bucked the trend and registered growth in January, while Changan, once a bestseller, and SAIC passenger cars and Trumpchi, which have shown great momentum recently, recorded sharp decline.

In recent years, self-developed car manufacturers have succeeded in improving their market share by grasping the opportunities brought by the fast growth of SUV sales. But, as the auto market is tangled with downward pressure, SUVs presented an even bigger fall compared with the average. The growth engine of self-developed brands is changing from SUVs to new energy vehicles (NEVs).

NEVs still kept a rapid growth in January, lighting the dim auto market. The sales volume of NEVs totaled 96,000 units, a rise of whopping 138 percent over the prior year.

Apart from NEVs, the new policy for promoting vehicles in rural areas should be another chance posed for China's self-developed car brands, since self-developed vehicles are more likely to be preferred by rural consumers in light of affordability.

Similarly, gap existed among joint ventures in terms of car sales last month.

Data from CAAM revealed compared with a year ago, German-funded car brands notched up a slight growth while those supported by Japan, the U.S. and South Korea fell significantly. 

The increase of German-funded car sales was pushed up by the rise of three luxury brands which presented overall sales surge, forming a striking contrast to the sluggish market. Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW sold over 60,000 units vehicles respectively.

According to China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the sales volume of luxury cars in China last year amounted to 2.82 million units, an outstanding number amid the downward market.

It is predicted that the growth momentum of luxury cars will persist this year. The rapid growth of luxury cars is mainly motivated by the previous luxury car buyers who upgrade and change their cars, and Chinese young generation's demand for luxury autos also makes a contribution, noted Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of CPCA.

Email: wenqiao@nbd.com.cn