China’s auto output, sales rise YoY but drop MoM in April 2024

Beijing (Gasgoo)- In April, China's manufacturing industry witnessed accelerated production, recovering market demand, and stable confidence in recent market developments. While domestic automotive production and sales declined month on month, they showed significant year-on-year growth, driven by robust expansion in new energy vehicles (NEVs) and auto exports.

Overall, the world’s largest automotive market saw export growth outpace domestic sales, highlighting the urgent need for further domestic market stimulation. Recently, seven government departments in China, including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance, issued detailed rules for subsidies on trading in old vehicles for new ones, outlining subsidy scope and standards to coordinate the development of NEVs and conventional oil-fueled vehicles. Earlier, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration jointly issued a notice adjusting policies related to automobile loans, aimed at reducing the threshold for automobile consumption, synergizing with the latest subsidy rules.

Local governments are also actively rolling out complementary measures in response. It is believed that with the deepening implementation of relevant policies and further innovation by automakers, coupled with the continuous introduction of new vehicle models, the potential for consumer spending in the automotive market will be further unleashed, thus expanding domestic market demand.

In April 2024, there had been 2.406 million vehicles produced in China, representing a 10.5% decline from the previous month but a 12.8% rise from the previous year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). In the meantime, China sold 2.359 million vehicles, which dropped 12.5% month on month but increased 9.3% year on year.

In the first four months of this year, China’s cumulative auto production and sales volumes still maintained an overall growth from a year ago at 7.9% and 10.2%, respectively, which stood at 9.012 million vehicles and 9.079 million vehicles.

Automakers in China produced and sold 870,000 and 850,000 NEVs in April, indicating a respective 35.9% and 33.5% surge year-over-year. Among which, 736,000 units were consumed domestically, down 2.9% from the previous month while zooming up 37.3% from the year-ago period. In the meantime, NEV exports amounted to 114,000 units last month, which dipped 8.6% month on month but rose 13.3% year on year.

In the Jan.-Apr. period, China’s NEV production and sales volumes reached around 2.985 million units and 2.94 million units, spiking 30.3% and 32.3% from the previous year, respectively. NEVs accounted for 32.4% of China’s auto sales in the period.

Of the NEVs sold in the first four months of this year, 2.52 million units were sold in China, representing a 34.4% jump compared to the same span last year. At the same time, automakers in China shipped 421,000 NEVs to overseas markets, up 20.8% year-on-year.

In April, there had been a total of 504,000 vehicles setting sail from China to overseas markets, which ticked up 0.4% from the previous month and hiked 34% from the earlier year.

Among the vehicles exported last month, about 429,000 units were passenger cars, up 1.2% and 35.9% from the month-ago and year-ago periods, respectively. Meanwhile, the country’s commercial vehicle export volume reached 740,000 units, down 4.2% month over month but up 24% year over year.

In the first four months of 2024, China’s cumulative auto export volume came in at 1.827 million vehicles, leaping 33.4% from a year ago. Year-to-date exports of passenger cars stood at 1.539 million units, jumping 34.8% year on year. Meanwhile, the figure for commercial vehicles amounted to 288,000 units, growing 26.5% from a year earlier.

In the fourth month of 2024, Chery stood as the leading Chinese automaker in terms of export volume, with a total of 89,000 vehicles shipped overseas. This represents a year-on-year increase of 23.4% and accounted for 17.7% of the total monthly auto export volume in China. Compared to the same period last year, GAC Group exhibited the most notable growth rate, with 19,000 vehicles exported in April, indicating a remarkable soar of 550%.