In January 2022, the retail sales of locally-made PVs referring to cars, MPVs, SUVs and minibuses) in China amounted to around 2.112 million units, dipping 4.5% from the previous year, while also dropping 1.4% compared to December 2021, according to the China Passenger Car Association CPCA).

Although the Chinese Spring Festival began on Jan. 31, 2021 this year, automakers suspended production at plants and consumers bought cars about 3 to 5 days ahead of the beginning of the holiday, leading to production and sales losses of the month, said the association.

This year, local governments still called on people to stay where they work and live during the holiday to contain the coronavirus spread, while the public response was clearly weaker over the year-ago period. Thus, the higher volume of migrants returning to their hometowns and the stronger sales promotion to some extent shored up the car sales in some counties and cities in Central and Western China, the CPCA added.

The four segments all recorded year-on-year decrease in Jan. retail sales. Compared to Dec. 2021, the SUV and MPV segments still scored increase despite the overall downward movement.

In January, there were about 290,000 luxury PVs retailed across China, representing a 5% year-on-year decline, while showing an 18% month-on-month jump.

The retail sales of PVs under Chinese indigenous brands reached about 940,000 PVs last month, representing an 11% growth year on year, and a 1% rise compared to a month earlier. The market share of China's self-owned brands reached 45.5% in Jan. by retail sales, 6.4 percentage points higher than that of the year-ago period.

Mainstream joint ventures saw their combined retail sales reach around 860,000 units in Jan. 2022, sliding 17% over the previous year, while also dropping 7% over the previous month. The association revealed car production and sales were adversely affected by the sporadic and cluster COVID-19 cases in such megacities as Tianjin.

Among the top 10 automakers in China by Jan. 2022 locally-built PV retail sales, FAW-VW ranked highest, but it suffered a 17.9% year-on-year decrease. BYD boasted a hike of up to 126.7% thanks to its strong sales of new energy vehicles. Notably, BMW Brilliance entered the top 10 list this month as the only luxury car player, indicating robust consumer demands for replacing old cars with premium ones. Besides, SGMW, which heavily relies on mini-sized cars, saw its Jan. retail sales dwindle 18.6%, partly resulting from the general shrink of mini car market share.

PV wholesale volume in China reached 2.202 million units in January 2022, growing 7.5% from a year earlier with the car, SUV and minibus segments all recording an increase. Nevertheless, compared to the previous month, the aforesaid three as well as minibus segments all posted a decline, leading to an 8.6% drop in China's overall PV wholesales.

On the top 10 list of automakers by Jan. PV wholesales, five carmakers logged a year-on-year growth. BYD still boasted the biggest rise. GAC Toyota cracked the top 10 rankings, while FAW-Toyota didn't as its Tianjin plant was shut on Jan. 10 for 11 days due to the impact on suppliers of mandatory COVID-19 testing of city residents.