Summary: is different from the overall decline in the auto market. In the first half of this year, automobile companies exported 1.218 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 47.1%, which is a very impressive increase.
Reporter | Pu Zhenyu
Although the epidemic in Shanghai, Jilin and other places this year has put the automobile industry chain under unprecedented tests, the performance of China's automobile industry in the first half of the year is still full of highlights, and automobile exports have maintained a rapid growth trend.
According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "China Association of Automobile Manufacturers") data, the domestic auto market recovered rapidly in May and June, but China's auto sales in the first half of the year still fell 6.6% year-on-year. Different from the overall decline in the automobile market, automobile companies exported 1.218 million vehicles in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 47.1%, which is a very impressive increase. In terms of vehicle types, passenger car exports were 945,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 49.7%; commercial vehicle exports were 274,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 38.8%.
Regarding the surge in exports, Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Association, said that although the Russia-Ukraine conflict has affected some export markets, according to what the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has learned from companies, most companies' overseas orders are currently in good condition and there is no sign of a decline. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the comprehensive competitiveness of my country's automobile products, Chinese brands have gained more recognition in the international market.
Some car companies rely on exports to support their appearance.
When the domestic auto market is declining due to the impact of the epidemic, the importance of overseas markets has become highlighted. The sales structure of many Chinese car companies shows that the domestic market is cold and the overseas market is hot. In fact, export volume has become the main focus of sales growth for some car companies.
As the car company with the largest export volume, SAIC Group suffered a huge impact from the epidemic in April this year, but its sales in the first half of the year were still basically the same as the same period last year. The overseas market plays an important role behind this. According to official data, SAIC Group's overseas sales in the first half of the year reached 380,900 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 47.67%.
In addition to SAIC, Changan Automobile , Great Wall Motor , Geely Automobile , etc. also made a lot of gains in overseas markets in the first half of the year.
Among them, Changan Automobile's sales in the first half of the year were 1.1257 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.25%, but its export sales exceeded 100,000 units in the same period; Geely Automobile's sales in the Chinese market (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in the first half of the year dropped 9% year-on-year, but its export sales in the same period reached 87,600 units, a year-on-year increase of 64%; Great Wall Motors' sales in the first half of the year were 518,500 units, a year-on-year decrease of 16.12%, but overseas sales during the same period reached 62,800 units, also achieving year-on-year growth.
According to Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Car Association, although China's automobile industry chain has been affected by the epidemic in the first half of the year, it still has obvious advantages from a global perspective. Therefore, while ensuring domestic supply, domestic car companies have performed well in exports.
On the other hand, the substantial reduction in automobile production in overseas regions this year has also made room for Chinese automobiles to occupy the market. According to the latest data from the automotive industry data forecasting company AutoForecastSolutions, as of July 10, the European region has reduced vehicle production due to core shortages by more than 1 million units, becoming the first region in the world to reduce vehicle production by more than one million units due to core shortages this year. .
Recently, German media reported that the shortage of industrial raw materials in Germany has intensified, and the proportion of companies with supply chain problems in the automobile manufacturing industry is particularly high. Automakers are unable to meet market demand due to parts shortages, leading to a record backlog of orders for new cars in Germany.
"The world's automobile core shortage problem has led to insufficient production, low new car inventory, and the price of second-hand cars in the international market has skyrocketed. This has a huge premium effect on the competitiveness of our new cars and improved the export competitiveness of our models." Cui Dongshu said . According to data from the Passenger Car Association, from January to May this year, the average export price of domestic automobiles was US$16,700, compared with US$15,300 last year, and the average price increased by 7.7%.
New energy has entered the European market
Chen Shihua said that new energy vehicles have become the highlight of current automobile exports, and some companies have successfully entered the markets of developed countries and regions such as Europe.
Data from the China Automobile Association shows that in the first half of this year, my country exported a total of 202,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 times, which is higher than the sales growth of new energy vehicles in the domestic market.In terms of proportion, new energy vehicles accounted for 16.6% of total automobile exports in the first half of the year, while the figures for the same period in 2020 and 2021 were only 7% and 15% respectively.
Looking at different companies, according to data from the Passenger Car Association, in June this year, SAIC exported 10,861 new energy passenger vehicles, Dongfeng Yijie exported 5,445 vehicles, Geely Automobile exported 3,157 vehicles, BYD exported 2,177 new energy vehicles, and Tesla 968 vehicles were exported to China, 361 units were exported by JAC, 283 units were exported by Chery New Energy, 181 units were exported by Skyworth Automobile, and 177 units were exported by AIWAYS.
From the perspective of export destinations, as the number one company in the export volume of new energy vehicles, Tesla China exported a total of 97,100 vehicles to Europe, Australia, Japan, Singapore and other regions in the first half of this year, which was the same period last year. More than 2 times, accounting for 48% of China’s total automobile exports.
Not only Tesla, China’s local new energy vehicle companies are also very enthusiastic about exporting to developed countries. The latest data released by EU-EVS shows that in May, the SAIC MG brand became the only Chinese brand among the top ten pure electric vehicle sales in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and other countries. As the Chinese car company with the largest sales volume of new energy vehicles, BYD announced in May last year that the brand would be exported to Europe. In May this year, BYD Tang successfully entered the top 15 in the Norwegian electric vehicle sales list.
A report released by Bloomberg in the United States predicts that global sales of electric vehicles (including pure electric and plug-in hybrids) will climb to 20.6 million units by 2025, and 80% of these 20.6 million sales will be accounted for by the Chinese and European markets; by 2025 By 2020, electric vehicles will account for 39% of the total European automobile market, and the proportion in some European countries will be even higher, such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, which will account for about 40%-50%. The new car-making force is also the main force entering the markets of developed countries such as Europe. As of May 31 this year, NIO has registered 404 ES8s in the Norwegian market this year, and there are still 604 ES8s waiting for delivery. This year, AIWAYS has shipped thousands of cars to the European and Israeli markets. In addition, , Xpeng , Lantu, Weimar, and Ideal have also entered the European market one after another.
The sudden rise of second-hand car exports
Compared with the export of new cars, although the overall scale of the domestic second-hand car export business that has just started is still small, it is growing very fast. Data shows that from January to May this year, the export volume of second-hand cars was about 13,000 units, which is close to the export volume of second-hand cars for the whole of last year.
China’s second-hand car export began in 2019. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, second-hand car exports reached 3,036, 4,322 and 15,123 vehicles respectively, continuing to grow rapidly. As of May 2022, the country has exported a total of 35,000 second-hand cars to more than 140 countries and regions around the world.
Wang Haiyang, deputy secretary-general of the Second-Hand Car Export Professional Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said that developing countries have a large demand for second-hand car imports, especially countries and regions along the “One Belt and One Road”, which are in a period of rising economic development and demand for second-hand cars. Very huge. For example, more than 90% of Myanmar's vehicles are imported second-hand cars, Mongolia has no restrictions on the age of imported second-hand cars, and most countries in Africa allow the import of second-hand cars with lower age requirements.
However, one problem is that last year, the global shipping market experienced container shortages, overflows, and skyrocketing freight rates. On popular routes to North America, the freight rate for a single container once soared to US$20,000, a 10-fold increase from the price before the epidemic. Although ocean freight rates have fallen since the beginning of this year, they are still much higher than pre-epidemic levels. Why can second-hand car exports still maintain a good growth trend despite the skyrocketing sea freight?
In this regard, the general view in the industry is that sea freight is a cost issue, which does increase the export costs of enterprises and is an unfavorable factor for second-hand car exports. However, there are more and stronger favorable factors promoting China's second-hand car exports, so second-hand car exports Only then can the industry continue to develop rapidly.
Zhang Tingting, secretary-general of the Tianjin Second-hand Car Export Association, told a reporter from the Economic Observer that sea freight rates have indeed continued to skyrocket amid the epidemic. But in contrast, from the data point of view, China's second-hand car exports are gaining momentum, and the brand influence of China's second-hand cars is gradually increasing.First, the complex international situation has pushed up the price of crude oil, which has led to more obvious demand for new energy vehicles from overseas users; secondly, China’s new energy product strength has great advantages in the international market; thirdly, China’s used car export business has been developed In the past three years, more and more countries have learned about Chinese second-hand cars and actively sought to purchase cars from Chinese companies. In addition, the country has continuously introduced relevant policies to promote the circulation and export of second-hand cars, which has also boosted China's second-hand car exports.
It is worth noting that as of May this year, there were 153 domestic companies operating second-hand car export business, of which more than 20 have car company backgrounds, including Shanghai Dongfeng Motor Import and Export Co., Ltd. (Dongfeng ), Guangzhou Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou Automobile), Xi'an Geely Automobile Co., Ltd. ( Geely ), China FAW Group Import and Export Co., Ltd. ( FAW ).
