China’s auto sales surged by 11.6% year on year in June to 2.3 million units, driven by rising demand for trucks and other vehicles, improved consumption market, and stimulative policy, according to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Auto sales and productions both hit a record high.
During the first half of 2020, the decline of China’s auto sales and productions continued to narrow, with 102.6 million units being sold and 101.1 million being produced, down 16.9 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively.
Sales of commercial vehicles, which account for around a quarter of the overall market, increased by 63.1%. Truck sales stood out thanks to the rapid recovery of work and resumption amid COVID-19, especially the resumption of major infrastructure projects.
The increase in overall sales in China in June follows a rise of 14.5% in May and 4.4% in April, before which sales had languished in a nearly two-year slump. Sales of commercial vehicles went up by 48% in May and 32% in April.
Automakers such as Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, Great Wall Motor, Tesla Inc and Ford Motor Co reported sales growth in China in June.
However, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell for the 12th straight month, to 104,000 units. NEVs include battery-powered electric, plug-in petrol-electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
Despite recent signs of improvement, China’s auto sales are expected to fall by 10-20 percent in 2020 as a whole due to their earlier collapse, from over 25 million units sold in 2019, CAAM said last month.
China Auto Sales in May 2020
China’s automobile sales reached 2.194 million units in May 2020, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
In May 2020, the production and sales of automobiles were 2.187 million and 2.194 million respectively, up 4% and 5.9% on a month on month basis, up 18.2% and 14.5% on a year-on-year basis, up 15.9 and 10.1 percentage points on a month on month basis according to CAAM.
| Unit: 10,000 | Volume | Jan-May | MoM (%) | YoY (%) | YoY Jan-May (%) |
| Cars | 218.7 | 778.7 | 4.0 | 18.2 | -24.1 |
| Passenger Cars (PC) | 166.0 | 595.5 | 4.5 | 11.2 | -29.1 |
| Cars | 79.0 | 279.8 | 4.0 | 0.4 | -31.3 |
| MPV | 7.9 | 25.7 | 21.8 | -8.7 | -55.5 |
| SUV | 75.4 | 277.7 | 3.8 | 27.6 | -22.2 |
| Crossed Passenger Cars |
3.8 | 12.4 | -0.8 | 27.5 | -31.0 |
| Commercial Vehicles (CV) | 52.7 | 183.2 | 2.5 | 47.7 | -1.4 |
| Buses | 3.7 | 14.6 | -4.1 | 0.3 | -11.1 |
| Buses incomplete vehicles |
0.1 | 0.6 | -36.7 | -39.8 | -38.4 |
| Trucks | 49.0 | 168.6 | 3.1 | 53.2 | -0.4 |
| Semi-trailer | 9.1 | 32.0 | 1.6 | 47.8 | 29.4 |
| Trucks incomplete vehicles |
7.5 | 25.6 | 2.3 | 63.6 | -5.9 |
China’s new energy vehicle production in May was 84,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 25.8%; China’s new energy vehicle sales in May was 82,000, a year-on-year decrease of 23.5%.
As of June 11, a total of 204 production bases of 23 vehicle enterprises have returned to work.
Tesla sold 11,095 Shanghai-made Model 3 vehicles in China in May, more than triple the volume seen in April, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The China-made Tesla Model 3 powered by lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries has appeared in a catalog issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on May 15, according to CAAM.
Although the information was deleted afterwards, it still triggered speculation within the industry that the locally-produced model will be priced lower by using the cheaper batteries.
With a curb weight of 1,745kg, the new model is as heavy as the China-built Model 3’s Long-range RWD version that carries a ternary-lithium battery pack. Thus, if the data was confirmed later, the newly-exposed one might be an upgraded variant of the Standard Range as LiFePO4 battery is outperformed by the ternary-lithium battery in density.
Reuters reported on May 14 that Tesla plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next, expecting to bring the cost of EVs in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.
The new battery, which is purportedly designed to last for a million miles of use, is said to be co-developed with CATL.
Other May updates: retail sales, smartphone shipment, express delivery