The first half of 2017 in the Chinese market: 13.35 million vehicles sold, growth rate falls
Increased sales of SUVs and commercial vehicles
2017/09/04
- Summary
- Growth rate in the Chinese market slows in the first half of 2017
- Sales volume by group: BAIC Group's market share declines, GAC Group and Geely Group's market share increases
- Market share by model: SUVs at 34%, sedans and hatchbacks at 40%
- Passenger vehicle market: Chinese/Japanese OEMs see an increase in market share, Korean and French OEMs a major decrease
- Belt and Road initiative boosts exports to 26%, imports exceed 100,000 vehicles in March and May
- Sales of new energy vehicles in the first half sales2017 increase by 15% to 195,000 units
- 2017 first half sales volume by major Chinese automotive group (on factory shipment basis)
Summary
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In the first half of 2017 (January to June), 13.354 million new vehicles were sold in the Chinese market (based on factory shipments, and also including exports, likewise for the following), and the growth rate slowed from 8.0% in the first half of 2016 to 4.3%. This was due to changed to a compact passenger vehicle tax reduction policy that came into effect on January 1st, 2017 and raised the tax rate. The policy was originally implemented in October 2015.
The SAIC Group continues to increase its vehicle sales, and has a market share of 23.7%. Of the corporate groups up through fifth place, all groups excluding the SAIC Group and the FAW Group experienced negative growth y/y. The BAIC Group's subsidiary Beijing Hyundai, which has the largest sales ratio, suffered a particularly serious blow to its vehicle sales due to the effects of the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in Korea, reducing the Group's market share to 8.5%. The difference in market share between BAIC Group and sixth place Guangzhou Automobile Group is now a mere 1.3%.
SUVs remain popular in China, with y/y growth of 18.3% in sales to 4.526 million vehicles. Additionally, commercial vehicles, which have continued to decline in sales, experienced y/y growth of 17.5% in the first half of 2017, recording sales of 2.101 million vehicles.
Chinese OEMs' market share for passenger vehicles has continued to increase, reaching 44%. In particular, sales of Geely Automobile and GAC Motor own brand vehicles have fared well. German and Japanese OEMs also expanded their market shares, but those for Korean and French OEMs were less than 4%.
In the first half of 2017, approximately 160,000 EVs and 35,000 PHVs were sold for a total of 195,000 new energy vehicles (EVs and PHVs). In the breakdown of passenger vehicle manufacturers, BYD maintained the top spot, followed by BAIC BJEV, a subsidiary of the BAIC Group that has rapidly increased its market share.
*The report for sales volume is based on MarkLines database.
Related Reports:
China sales forecast and automaker's plans: Tax reduction to continue until end of 2017 (Feb.2017)
The Chinese market in 2016: Passenger vehicle tax break contributes to record high sales (Jan.2017)
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