Beijing (ZXZC)- In the first quarter of 2023, China's automobile industry entered a transition period of sales promotion policies. The price cut trend that emerged since the beginning of this year and the promotion spree since March have produced fluctuations on the consumer market, and the economic operation of the domestic automobile industry is facing greater pressure.

Despite the challenges, quarterly sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) continued to maintain rapid growth on top of the high base volume in the same period last year. Meanwhile, China's auto exports remained at a prominent level, and the commercial vehicle market has shown signs of recovery as the economy continues to pick up.

In March alone, China produced 2.584 million vehicles in total, which jumped 27.2% over the previous month and 15.3% over the previous year, respectively, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). At the same time, China's auto sales amounted to 2.451 million vehicles in the past month, representing a respective 24% and 9.7% increase from the month-ago and year-ago periods. 

In the quarter of this year, there were 6.21 million and 6.076 million vehicles produced and sold across the country, down 4.3% and 6.7% year over year. 

China's overall NEV market remained strong so far this year. Specifically, there were 653,000 NEVs sold by automakers in China during the past month, hiking 34.8% year on year. NEVs accounted for 26.6% of the country's total auto sales in March, of which 490,000 units were contributed by battery-electric vehicles. 

Han EV; photo credit: BYD

In the first three months of 2023, China's NEV sales grew 26.2% from a year ago to reach 1.586 million vehicles, which accounted for 26.1% of the total China auto sales volume in the period.

In the past month, there were roughly 364,000 vehicles exported to outside of the country by automakers in China, reflecting a 10.6% increase month-on-month. Compared to the same month last year, China's auto export volume has more than doubled (+110%). Of the vehicles sold overseas in March, 78,000 units were NEVs, soaring 390% year on year. 

By the end of March, there were 994,000 vehicles shipped overseas this year, shooting up 70.6% from a year ago. Among which, 248,000 units were NEVs (+110% YoY). 

ZEEKR 001; photo credit: ZEEKR

China's passenger vehicle sales summed up to 2.017 million units in March, up 22% over the previous month and 8.2% over the previous year. Monthly sales of conventional oil-fueled vehicles in China continued to drop from a year ago at a 9.9% rate to 1.169 million vehicles.

In the Jan.-Mar. period, a total of 5.138 million passenger vehicles were sold through wholesale by automakers in China, down 7.3% compared to the prior-year period.

In the past month, sales of China-branded passenger vehicles totaled 1.052 million units, growing 16.4% over the previous year and accounting for 52.1% of China's overall passenger vehicle sales. 

As to China's commercial vehicle market, a consecutive month-on-month and year-on-year growth demonstrated the market's gradual recovery. In March this year, production and sales volumes of China's commercial vehicles both came in at 434,000 units, indicating a respective 37.1% and 34.2% spike month-on-month, and a 20.4% and 17.4% jump year-on-year.