Retail sales of passenger cars in China in December increased by 12% year-on-year to 2.635 million, according to a report by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Compared to November, they increased by 8.7%.
Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) soared by 37.5% yoy and reached 1.302 million. The figure was up 2.6% compared to November.
NEVs accounted for 49.4% of new cars last month, up from 40.3% in December 2023.
For the whole of 2024, passenger car sales in China increased by 5.5% compared to the same period a year earlier to 22.894 million.
The market of new passenger cars has added 50-60% in 1.5 months amid the government’s initiative to introduce a 15% military tax on car buyers, according to AUTO-Consulting, an information and analytical group.
“It is safe to say that rumors of a 15% additional tax have activated about 4000+ buyers of new cars in 1.5 months. And this added 50-60% to the market. We can’t think of a more effective advertising campaign,” the group said in a statement on its website.
At the same time, in August, AUTO-Consulting recorded a 36 percent increase in sales by August 2023 and a 38 percent increase by July this year – up to 8.3 thousand units, and noted that such a number of cars have not been sold in Ukraine in a month for a long time.
“At the end of July, the beginning of the rush was already recorded, which brought a thousand additional cars to the car market,” the report recalls.
As reported, on July 18, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Rada Bill No. 11416 on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine, which, in particular, proposed to levy 15% of the military tax on car buyers, which was opposed by a number of car business representatives.
In late August, the finalized draft law no longer contained this provision.
AUTO-Consulting notes that not all dealers were ready for such a sharp jump in sales, but the market leader Toyota confidently kept its pace (up 44.5% compared to July), and Renault managed to move up to second place from third in July with a 76.2% increase in sales. BMW has consolidated its position in the top three, while Skoda, which took fourth place, almost doubled its sales.
“It is interesting that for the second month we have seen an abnormal number of electric vehicles – 16%, and some brands of ‘Chinese imports’ have already registered in the top ten,” the group’s analysts note.
At the same time, they suggest that some of these cars were indeed purchased, but a significant amount was simply registered by dealers to avoid the possible consequences of a 15% rise in price during the introduction of the military tax.
“Therefore, we will see the real volume of “electric trains” by the end of September, when the excitement around the new taxes will disappear,” they summarize.
AUTO-Consulting also emphasizes that not only the threat of the military tax has activated the car market – during the month there were large purchases by corporate clients, many cars were bought by the state, so this is a complex result.
According to Opendatabot, more than 228 thousand cars were imported into Ukraine in 7 months of 2024, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is 14.2% more than last year. 71% of all imported cars this year were used. This year, the average age of imported cars is 9 years. Demand for electric cars increased by 83%.
228,319 vehicles were imported to Ukraine in the first 7 months of 2024. This is 14.2% more than in the same period of 2023, when 199,980 cars were imported.
71% of the cars imported this year were used. Currently, the average age of imported used vehicles is 9 years. 42% of used cars imported to Ukraine are 10 years old or older.
Most of the newly imported cars were registered in Kyiv – 13.7%. Lviv (10.2%) and Odesa (7.4%) regions are also in the top 3.
Ukrainians are in stable demand:
VOLKSWAGEN – 25,498 cars (11.2%)
RENAULT – 17,479 cars (7.7%)
AUDI – 13,173 cars or 5.8%.
In terms of models, SKODA OCTAVIA was imported the most – 5,047 units. The next positions were taken by VOLKSWAGEN GOLF and VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT – 4,965 and 4,147 cars respectively.
Gasoline cars remain the most popular – almost every second car imported this year. Diesel cars accounted for 27.5% of the cars imported this year. Despite the fact that imports of electric cars increased 1.8 times over the year, they accounted for only 13.1% of newly imported cars in total.
The President of Uzbekistan visited the BYD Uzbekistan Factory in the Jizzakh region and signed the first cars that rolled off the assembly line.
This is the first stage of a $160 million project. The plant currently produces two models of the brand’s cars. Theannual production capacity of the first stage is50 thousand units.
Thesecond stage of the $300 million project is expected to increase production to 200 thousand electric vehicles per year (in 2027-2028), 350 thousand in 2028-2029, and the third stage of the $500 million project will increase productionto500 thousand electric vehicles (starting in 2030).
For reference: In January-May 2024, Uzbekistan produced a total of 162,608 units of cars. Source – UzAUTO.
The joint venture has been provided with modern industrial infrastructure and nearly 2 km of railway tracks have been laid. The plant has modern equipment and robotic systems from China. The production process is automated. A laboratory for high-precision inspection of the geometric dimensions of electric vehicles has been set up.
As the number of electric vehicles increases, the level of localization is expected to gradually increase. First of all, the production of bumpers, glass, lacquered and plastic parts will be launched. In the future, it is planned to produce batteries, electric motors, aluminum parts, tires and seats.
In the future, the plant plans to export electric vehicles to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan.
BYD, CARS, PLANT, UZBEKISTAN
More than 160 thousand vehicles were imported to Ukraine in 5 months of 2024, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). Only 28% of imported cars in 2024 were new.
160,750 vehicles were imported to Ukraine in 5 months of 2024. This is 21% more than in the same period in 2023.
The most popular brand among all imported cars this year was VOLKSWAGEN – 18,771 cars or 11.7% of the total. RENAULT was in second place with 13,187 vehicles (8.2%), and AUDI took third place with 9,137 cars (5.7%). The most popular models among imported cars were SKODA OCTAVIA, VOLKSWAGEN GOLF and PASSAT.
Gasoline cars remain the most popular – almost every second imported car. Diesel cars accounted for 29% of cars imported this year. Electric cars accounted for 12.9%.
72% of all imported cars this year were used. Currently, the average age of imported cars is 10 years.
The largest number of newly imported cars was registered in Kyiv – 13.9%. Lviv (10.2%) and Odesa (7.5%) regions are also in the top 3.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/autoimport-2024-5
The Chinese authorities plan to pay car owners up to 10 thousand yuan ($1.4 thousand) if they replace their cars with all-electric or hybrid ones this year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
In addition, the government will provide subsidies of 7 thousand yuan to those who change cars to traditional ones with engines of no more than 2 liters.
Following the news, American Depository Receipts (ADRs) for shares of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers rose in price on Friday, including Nio – by 9.4%, XPeng – by 11.1%, Li Auto – by 7%, BYD – by 3.7%.
