China’s Auto Sales Fall Sharply After Lifting of Pandemic Curbs, Wall Street Journal, Mar. 8, 2023.
By Selina Cheng
End to tax breaks and EV subsidies contributed to 20% drop in sales in first two months of year
China’s passenger car retail sales shrank almost 20% in the first two months of this year, underscoring the challenges facing manufacturers in the world’s largest but long-stuttering auto market.
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/in-depth-features/teslas-growing-competition-in-china-goes-beyond-just-evs/580ED23C-D009-4BC3-8891-8099746B6378
The nation’s auto makers sold 2.7 million passenger cars in January and February combined, according to the China Passenger Car Association, down from 3.3 million a year earlier. The association partly attributed the drop to the ending of tax cuts on autos that boosted sales during the pandemic, as well as the end of electric-vehicle subsidies.
Makers of plug-in hybrid and battery electric cars fared better, seeing sales rise 23% in January and February from the same period a year ago.
China’s bestselling passenger car model in wholesale, which includes exports, in February was BYD Co.’s 1211 2.04%increase; green up pointing triangle Song model. Four of the country’s top eight models sold last month were made by BYD, and two were made by Tesla Inc. TSLA 0.72%increase; green up pointing triangle Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory delivered just over 74,000 cars last month, and around 34,000 were sold in China.
Tesla has cut prices globally and in China the American EV maker offered up to 13% in price cuts for its models in an effort to boost sales, bringing its prices closer to some models which are Chinese-made. Several other Chinese car makers also cut prices this year.
As car sales across the nation slow some local governments are now offering their own car purchase rebates.
Dongfeng Motor Corp. and the government of Hubei province, where the state-owned car maker is based, are offering joint rebates of up to almost $13,000 per vehicle this month, according to promotional materials from local dealerships.
This led to a rush to buy vehicles made by Dongfeng’s joint ventures, which include ones made under the Citroën, Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. brands, state media reported.
Foreign joint ventures have been struggling to retain their market share in China as more domestic brands successfully capture the booming EV market and overall sales. China’s auto market has stumbled in recent years after a long period of breakneck growth that attracted many of the world’s leading auto makers.
Lunar New Year holidays fell in January this year, when businesses and manufacturers closed for more than a week. China’s longest holiday period more often falls in February, when car sales typically plunge, so comparing the combined retail figures from the two months is seen as a better barometer of sales because it offsets the holiday’s impact.
PHOTOS: The EV Rivals Aiming for Tesla’s Crown in China
Source: WSJ
The sales of plug-in hybrids grew faster than those of fully electric cars in February, with an almost 120% increase from the same month last year, compared with over 40% for electric cars.
Homegrown auto makers took up more than half of China’s passenger car retail market share late last year. Eight out of 10 electric and plug-in hybrid cars sold in China last year were made by domestic car companies rather than foreign car makers or their joint ventures.
Appeared in the March 9, 2023, print edition as 'China Auto Sales Fall Sharply, But EVs Buck Down Trend'.