Beijing (ZXZC)- In July, the Chinese automotive market experienced a deceleration in production and sales, influenced by the high base effect from the same period last year and compounded by the traditional off-season for the industry. 

The overall market performance remained relatively subdued, reflecting both sequential and year-on-year declines. Notably, the production and sales of passenger vehicles witnessed dual decreases on both a monthly and yearly basis, while the commercial vehicle segment, benefiting from a low base effect in the previous year, exhibited double-digit year-on-year growth in July 2023. Meanwhile, the momentum for new energy vehicles and automobile exports continued their robust development trajectory.

In July, China produced a total of 2.401 million vehicles, representing a 6.2% drop over the previous month and a 2.2% notch down over the previous year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Meanwhile, China's monthly auto sales came in at 238.7 million vehicles in the past month, which also fell 9% month over month and 1.4% year over year. 

Nonetheless, given the low base number in the past year, year-to-date production and sales volume of the Chinese market remained higher than a year ago. Specifically, there were 15.65 million and 15.626 million vehicles produced and sold in the first seven months of this year, up 7.4% and 7.9% year over year, respectively, down 1.9 percentage points from that of the Jan.-Jun. period. 

ZEEKR 001; photo credit: ZEEKR

Despite the relatively slow sales performance in July, China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) market maintained its robust momentum. With about 805,000 and 780,000 NEVs produced and sold by automakers in China in the past month, the market boasted a respective spike of 30.6% and 31.6% year on year. With this volume, NEVs has successfully nabbed a 32.7% share of the country's total auto sales last month. 

In the Jan.-Jul. span, China’s total NEV output and sales reached an impressive volume of 4.591 million and 4.526 million units respectively, indicating a 40% and 41.7% leap over the previous year. Sales of NEVs accounted for 29% of China’s total auto sales in the period.

Photo credit: NIO

Automakers in China have been increasingly eyeing the global market and acted on marking an international presence. In the past month, automakers in China shipped roughly 392,000 vehicles to overseas markets, which edged up 2.7% month on month and jumped 35.1% year over year. Of the vehicles shipped overseas in July, about 101,000 units were NEVs, surging 29.5% from the previous month while soaring 87% from the earlier year.

In the first seven months of this year, a total of 2.533 million vehicles were exported outside of the country by automakers in China, hiking up 67.9% from a year ago. Among which, exports of NEVs in the period reached roughly 636,000 units, which is 1.5 times higher than that of the previous year. 

According to rankings compiled by the CAAM, SAIC Motor sustained its position as the largest exporter of automobiles in China in July, with about 88,000 vehicles shipped overseas. Meanwhile, the constant runner-up, Chery, moved 77,000 vehicles outside of China. NEV-dedicated companies such as Tesla and BYD, ranked third and seventh on the list, with 33,000 and 19,000 NEVs exported last month. Notably, BYD’s monthly export volume came up 3.5 times higher than that of a year ago. 

In the first seven months of this year, the top ten best-selling automakers in China sold a total of 13.048 million vehicles, up 4.5% year on year, and their combined volume accounted for 83.5% of the country’s total auto sales in the period. 

Among the ten companies, namely SAIC Motor, FAW Group, BYD, Changan Automobile, GAC Group, Dongfeng Motor, BAIC Group, Chery Holding, Geely Automobile, and Great Wall Motor, BYD outpaced others with a growth rate of 87.6% (1.518 million vehicles). Meanwhile, Chery, BAIC, and Geely also posted a double-digit growth in year-to-date sales from the previous year, which stood at 47.3% (891,000 vehicles), 16.1% (935,000 vehicles), and 13% (832,000 vehicles). 

Li L9; photo credit: Li Auto

As to automakers who sell NEVs, the top ten companies (including BYD, Tesla, SAIC Motor, GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Dongfeng Motor, Geely Automobile, Li Auto, FAW Group, and Great Wall Motor) sold a combined volume of 3.847 million NEVs in the Jan.-Jul. period, representing a 55.8% surge year-over-year and marked a total of 85% share of China’s NEV market.

The CAAM commented that the NEV market is still in the rapidly growing phase. Compared to the year-ago performance, among all NEVs makers in China, Li Auto and GAC Group featured the highest growth rate in sales, with both companies posting year-over-year increase of over 100%. Notably, Li Auto was the only NEV startup in China to enter the top ten list in the period.