Posted on 13 Aug 2021
The performance of China’s auto industry declined on year for the third successive month in July, with automotive sales and production falling by 11.9% and 15.5% respectively, the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) published on August 11 showed.
Last month, total vehicle sales reached 1.86 million units, also down 7.5% from June, while output totalled 1.86 million units, lower by 4.1% on month, according to the data.
Despite the declines, the total over January-July showed that automobile sales had surged by 19.3% on year to 14.76 million units, while output soared by 17.2% on year to 14.44 million units. However, the totals were 6.3 and 7 percentage points lower than those in the first half of 2021, mainly due to the lower July numbers, Mysteel Global noted.
In July, China’s economy grew steadily, which was supporting the development of the auto industry, the association’s report said, despite the resurgence of COVID-19 cases nationwide and the disruption caused by Typhoon In-Fa mainly in East China.
China’s economy will likely strengthen throughout 2021, but the auto industry’s performance will be affected by the shortage of semiconductors and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases abroad, CAAM said. The possibility exists for softening demand at home too as COVID-19 cases are increasing, the report elaborated.
Among last month’s totals, sales and production of passenger cars were the same, both at 1.55 million units, with the former down 7% on year and 1.1% on month, and the latter down 10.7% on year and 0.5% on month. In the first seven months of 2021, sales of passenger vehicles amounted to 11.56 million units, jumping 21.2% on year, while output surged by 20.1% on year to 11.39 million units, the report showed.
As for vehicles for commercial use, July sales dropped by 30.2% on year or by 30% on month to 312,000 units, while output also fell by 33.2% on year or by 18.8% from June to 315,000 units. Among commercial vehicles, truck sales totalled 274,000 units last month and output topped 273,000 units, the association said.
Starting July 1, Beijing banned both the production and sales of the new diesel-fuelled heavy trucks that failed to meet Stage VI emissions standards. This led to the sharp fall in both production and sales for commercial vehicles in July, the report said.
Over January-July, sales of commercial-use vehicles increased by 12.9% on year to 3.2 million units, while the output grew by 7.6% on year to 3.04 million units, the data showed.
China’s sales, production of automobiles
|
‘000 units |
July |
Jan-July |
||||||
|
Sales |
YoY (%) |
Production |
YoY (%) |
Sales |
YoY (%) |
Production |
YoY (%) |
|
|
AUTOs |
1,864 |
-11.9 |
1,863 |
-15.5 |
14,756 |
19.3 |
14,440 |
17.2 |
|
NEVs |
271 |
175 |
284 |
170.8 |
1,478 |
197.1 |
1,504 |
195.6 |
Source: CAAM
Last month within the new-energy vehicle (NEV) sector, electric cars performed the best in both sales and production, with the former jumping by 170% on year to 220,000 units and the latter by 180% on year to 232,000 units. Over January-July, the sales and production for electric cars added up to 1.23 million units and 1.26 million units, both higher by 220% on year, according to the official data.
In July, China’s auto exports totalled 174,000 units, up 180% on year or by 9.8% from June, among which, exports of passenger cars soared 210% on year or by 16.8% on month to 140,000 units, the CAAM data showed. In the first seven months of 2021, the total vehicle exports amounted to 1 million units, up 120% on year.
Source:Mysteel Global
