SHANGHAI, Dec 28 (SMM) – Automobile sales have shown a gradual recovery trend since April. China automobile production and sales have achieved year-on-year growth for eight consecutive months as of November.

China automobile production and sales reached new highs during the year in November, standing at 2.85 million and 2.77 million vehicles respectively, up 11.5% and 7.6% respectively from the previous month and up 9.6% and 12.6% respectively from the previous year.

According to China Association of Automobile Manufactures forecast, the domestic auto market sales this year is expected to reach 25 million vehicles, and the year-on-year decline is expected to narrow to 2%, better than expectations. China's auto sales are likely to achieve steady growth in the next five years. China's auto sales will reach 30 million by 2025.

From the perspective of vehicle sales data, most car companies showed a year-on-year increase in sales in the first eleven months of 2020. For example, Dongfeng Group’s sales in the first eleven months of 2020 were 3.05 million units, up 15.5% from the previous month. Changan Automobile’s sales in the first eleven months of 2020 were 1.8 million units, up 15.3 % from the previous month. Jiangling Motors sold 292,896 units in the first eleven months of 2020, up 14.7% year on year.

According to the analysis of the Passenger Association, the growth momentum of the automobile market in December was relatively large. According to statistics, the current local consumption promotion policies in 8 provinces and 35 prefecture-level cities will expire before year-end, which will stimulate automobile consumption at the end of the year. In addition, new energy car sales have a strong momentum and is expected to continue to grow.

The good development trend of the auto industry has inspired auto companies to deploy new capacity expansions.

It has been reported recently that Apple’s electric car will be launched at least two years in advance and is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2021. According to relevant information, Apple's project code is called "Titan", which was originally developed with the research and development of autonomous driving technology. It has been transformed into a development project of autonomous driving system. According to the forecast of research institutes, Apple invests RMB 133 billion in automobile projects every year and has a number of patents.

Jianghuai Automobile Chairman Amgen stated on December 8 at the unveiling ceremony of Volkswagen (Anhui) that Volkswagen (Anhui) will invest 20 billion yuan to build a new plant with a capacity of 300,000 vehicles in Hefei, and put into production a variety of MEB-based models by 2023. 

With the return of the Sihao brand by Volkswagen (Anhui) to JAC, JAC has also begun to place the transformation and upgrading of passenger cars on the Sihao brand. Jianghuai Automobile has stated that the Sihao brand will launch a total of more than ten models of the A and X series in the next five years, covering A00-B class SUVs and cars.

The "Great Wall Motor Taizhou Smart Factory Completion and Commencement Ceremony" was grandly held in Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province on November 24. Great Wall Motor’s Taizhou Smart Factory is located in Gaogang District, Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province. It has a total investment of 8 billion yuan and an area of about 1173 mu. It has built four process workshops including stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly. Construction officially started in November 2019, and the total construction period is less than one year, reappearing the "Great Wall speed".

According to the relevant documents of the Jilin Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, the production capacity of Hongqi FAW Car Company is 150,000 vehicles per year, which will be increased to 200,000 vehicles per year in the future. It is reported that the increase in production capacity is mainly due to the transformation of the existing production lines of FAW's second factory in Ulsan base for welding and assembly of the second factory. After the transformation, the production line will add a total of 50,000 Hongqi H5, Hongqi HS5 and Hongqi EV production capacity per year.