China Association of Automobile Manufacturers: The retail sales of new energy vehicles in February was 388,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 11.6%.

On March 8th, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released the analysis of the national passenger car market in February. In February, the retail sales of passenger cars were 1.095 million, a decrease of 21.0% year-on-year, and a decrease of 46.2% month-on-month. Among them, the retail sales of new energy vehicles in February were 388,000, a decrease of 11.6% year-on-year and a decrease of 42.1% month-on-month; the production of new energy passenger cars reached 426,000, a decrease of 17.7% year-on-year and a decrease of 42.3% month-on-month. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers stated that the sharp decline in sales in February compared to January was mainly due to the difference in consumption time before the Spring Festival, and the expected policy details announced in March, which were not conducive to sales trends in February. Review of the national passenger car market in February: Retail: In February, the retail sales of passenger cars were 1.095 million, a decrease of 21.0% year-on-year and a decrease of 46.2% month-on-month; the cumulative retail sales for the year were 3.133 million, an increase of 17.0% year-on-year. In January 2024, the retail sales of the automobile market basically met expectations, but in February, the sharp decline in sales compared to January was mainly due to the time difference in consumption before the Spring Festival. Some sales were overdrawn in January, affecting sales before the Spring Festival, and price wars quickly escalated after the Spring Festival, leading to a significant wait-and-see trend. Combined with the expected policy details announced in March, these factors all contributed to the unfavorable sales trend in February. At the national level, policies guiding the automobile industry were frequently introduced, aiming to further stabilize and expand automobile consumption. The Ministry of Commerce promoted the "Hundred Cities Joint" Automobile Festival and the "Thousand Counties and Ten Thousand Towns" New Energy Vehicle Consumption Season, with the effect of consumption promotion policies in many regions continui...Decreased by 11.6% year-on-year and decreased by 42.1% month-on-month. In February, the export of new energy vehicles was 79,000 units, an increase of 0.1% year-on-year, and a decrease of 20.0% month-on-month.Wholesale: In February, the penetration rate of new energy vehicle manufacturers in wholesale reached 34.5%, an increase of 3.5 percentage points from 31% in February 2023, and an increase of 1.6 percentage points from January's 32.9%. In February, the penetration rate of domestically branded new energy vehicles was 45.1%; luxury cars with new energy vehicles had a penetration rate of 37.1%; while mainstream joint venture brand new energy vehicles had a penetration rate of only 7.1%. In February, pure electric wholesale sales were 269,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 22.8% and a month-on-month decrease of 34.3%. Plug-in hybrid overall sales in February were 117,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 4% and a month-on-month decrease of 37%. Extended range wholesale sales in February were 61,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 147% and a month-on-month decrease of 33%. Within the structure of new energy wholesale in February, pure electric vehicles accounted for 60%, plug-in hybrids for 26%, and extended range vehicles for 14% (in comparison, in February 2023, pure electric vehicles accounted for 71%, plug-in hybrids for 25%, and extended range vehicles for 5%; for the whole of 2023, pure electric vehicles accounted for 70%, plug-in hybrids for 25%, and extended range vehicles for 5%). Extended range vehicles effectively address range anxiety of pure electric vehicles and their market share is continuously increasing, making them a branch of pure electric vehicles. In February, B-segment electric vehicle sales were 102,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 13% and a month-on-month decrease of 26%, accounting for 38% of the pure electric market share. The A00+A0 level economic electric vehicle market in the pure electric market declined, with A00 level wholesale sales of 45,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 13% and a month-on-month decrease of 47%, accounting for 17% of the pure electric market share, an increase of 5 percentage points year-on-year; A0 level wholesale sales were 63,000 units, accounting for 23% of the pure electric market share, a decrease of 8 percentage points year-on-year; A-level electric car sales were 50,000, accounting for 19% of the pure electric market share, a decrease of 3 percentage points year-on-year. Sale...Changan Automobile sold 21,176 vehicles, Ideal car sold 20,251 vehicles, Great Wall Motor sold 12,253 vehicles, and GAC Aion sold 10,006 vehicles.5) New forces: In February, the retail market share of new forces was 16.2%, an increase of 5.3 percentage points year-on-year; new force car companies such as NIO and Li Auto still performed well in terms of year-on-year and month-on-month sales. Among mainstream joint venture brands, Volkswagen in the North and South led the pack, with wholesale sales of new energy vehicles totaling 11,652 units, accounting for a strong 49% share of the mainstream joint venture pure electric market. Volkswagen's resolute electric transformation strategy is starting to show results. Other joint ventures and luxury brands still need to step up their efforts. 6) Conventional hybrids: In February, wholesale sales of conventional hybrid passenger vehicles totaled 43,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 20% and a month-on-month decrease of 34%. Among them, FAW Toyota sold 15,529 units, GAC Toyota sold 15,065 units, Changan Ford sold 2,909 units, GAC Honda sold 2,795 units, Dongfeng Automotive sold 2,688 units, Dongfeng Honda sold 2,559 units, GEELY AUTO sold 896 units, GAC Trumpchi sold 443 units, and Dongfeng Nissan sold 219 units. Sales of hybrid vehicles from domestic brands are gradually increasing. Outlook for the national passenger vehicle market in March There are 21 working days in March this year, 2 days fewer than March 2023. As various industries quickly transitioned back to normal operations after the Spring Festival holiday, the month-on-month production and sales growth in March is expected to be rapid. After the Spring Festival is an important time for the launch of new products, with many manufacturers launching a large number of new cars. Under the national policy to boost consumption, many provinces and cities have introduced corresponding consumption promotion policies, and the full recovery of offline activities such as auto shows will also accelerate the gathering of popularity. With recent low prices of raw materials like lithium carbonate, manufacturers are able to launch more cost-effective new energy vehicle models, attracting more attention to the car market. Recent encouragement policies such as the old-for-new policy in Shanghai and other regions have played a good role in promoting consumption. With the upcoming national old-for-new policy, the potential for market elimination and replacement and purchase upgrades will gradually be reflected, benefiting the gradual strength of the car market in March.