The Chinese New Year holiday fell entirely into February 2024, resulting in fewer workdays and a traditional seasonal slowdown in the manufacturing industry in China. As a result, the production and operations of enterprises were affected, leading to an overall decrease in market activity. 

Analyzing the automotive production and sales situation, it is observed that some pent-up demand for vehicle purchases was released before the Chinese New Year. Hence, China’s overall automotive production and sales volume in February experienced a slight decline compared to January. However, both passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles maintained stable performance during the first two months of this year. Additionally, the new energy vehicle sector and automotive exports continued to exhibit favorable performance.

In the second month of 2024, China produced a total of 1.506 million vehicles, representing a 37.5% drop from the previous month and 25.9% decline over the previous year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). In the same month, automakers in China sold around 1.584 million vehicles, which fell 35.1% from a month earlier while tumbling 19.9% year over year.

In the first two months of this year, China’s cumulative auto production and sales volumes reached 3.919 million and 4.026 million vehicles, respectively, which still showcased robust year-on-year increases of 8.1% and 11.1% year-on-year.

In the past month, a total of 464,000 and 477,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs) were produced and sold by automakers in China, down 16% and 9.2% year on year, respectively. 

Of the NEVs sold in February, 395,000 units were consumed domestically, dropping 37.2% month over month while notching down 9.8% year on year. Meanwhile NEV exports stood at 82,000 units in the past month, decreasing 18.5% from the previous month and 5.9% from a year ago.

Despite the downturn in February, the NEV market in China still sustained its prominent performance in the Jan.-Feb. period of this year, with production and sales reaching around 1.252 million and 1.207 million units, jumping 28.2% and 29.4% from the previous year, respectively. NEVs made up 30% of the country's total auto sales in the first two months of 2024.

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Among the NEVs sold in the Jan.-Feb. period, 1.025 million units were sold within the country, surging 34.3% compared to the same span last year. Meanwhile, NEV exports came in at 182,000 units, rising 7.5% year on year.

Photo credit: BYD

In the past month, there were approximately 377,700 vehicles shipped out from China to overseas markets, down 14.9% month on month but grew 14.7% year on year. Among which, roughly 315,000 units were passenger cars (+16.2% YoY) and 62,000 units were commercial vehicles (+7.6% YoY).

In the first two months of 2024, automakers in China moved a total of 822,000 vehicles outside of the country, leaping 30.5% from a year ago. Year-to-date exports of passenger cars stood at around 686,000 units (+31.5% YoY), while the figure for commercial vehicles amounted to 136,000 units (+25.9% YoY).

In February, Chery stood as the leading Chinese automaker in terms of export volume, with a total of 79,000 vehicles shipped overseas. This represents a significant year-on-year spike of 47.9% and accounted for 21% of the total auto export volume in China. Great Wall Motor exhibited the most notable growth rate, exporting 31,000 vehicles last month, indicating a remarkable soar of 120% compared to the same period last year.