Written by Xiong Ruifeng

BYD is really taking off!

In general, August is traditionally a slow season for sales, serving as a transitional month before the peak season of “Golden September and Silver October.” Sales data for car companies in August often seem “dreary” , especially considering the rare phenomenon of lower retail sales volume than in July which happened last year in August.

But in August this year, despite the extreme “hot” weather in some areas, thanks to the gradual effects of preferential tax policies for car purchases and the high promotional efforts by mainstream car companies, the major car companies have increased their incentives, trying to make up for the sales loss caused earlier by the epidemic, and further making the passenger car market in August less bleak again with a unique phenomenon.

Statistics show that the domestic passenger car market sold 1.871 million units in August. Although the month-on-month growth was only 2.9%, you should know that it increased 28.8% directly year-on-year last August to achieve the highest growth rate during the same period in the past decade.

From a macro perspective, cumulative sales from January to August reached 12.95 million, an increase of 0.1%, or an increase of 13,000 units year-on-year. Among them, the demand suppressed in April and May was released in June to August, which contributed a huge year-on-year increase of 1.102 million units.

Specifically, the data for the four major types of passenger cars in China all showed relatively fast growth year-on-year in August. Among them, the sales growth rate of new energy continued to sing a high tune, achieving a stunning growth rate of 111.4%. In addition, SUV and sedan sales also achieved growth rates of 30.5% and 29.2%, respectively.

Regarding the specific situation for each manufacturer, benefiting from the continuous improvement of logistics and supply chains, as well as the recovery in production and consumption policies, the auto industry had effective growth, and six companies sold more than 100,000 units, including BYD, FAW Volkswagen, SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM, Changan Automobile, and Geely Automobile. BYD continued to beat the previous undefeated champion FAW-Volkswagen for a second consecutive month and won the championship with 169,000 units sold.

It is worth mentioning that the domestic independent brands achieved 850,000 units sales in August, exceeding the joint venture brands’ sales(770,000 units) with a year-on-year growth of 41%, and achieved a domestic retail market share of 45.8%.

Among the mainstream joint venture brands, the market share of German brand was 21.1% in August, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points year-on-year. Japanese brand had a market share of 20.7%, decreased by 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. American brand had a market share of 8.9%, decreased by 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.

Is Xiao Wuling Getting Tired?

Regarding the sales of passenger car models, the domestic passenger car market sold 949,000 units in August, increased by 29.2% year-on-year and 5.1% month-on-month; sales from January to August reached 6.438 million units, an increase of 2.2% year-on-year.

In terms of specific rankings, the top five of this month’s passenger car sales charts were Nissan Sylphy, BYD Qin family, Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, Volkswagen Lavida, and BYD Han family. Among them, Dongfeng Nissan Sylphy once again surpassed the long-time winner Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, with a monthly sales volume of 43,810 units, continuing to be the top-selling passenger car.

BYD Qin surpassed Wuling Hongguang MINIEV for the first time and came in second on the list with a sales volume of 37,511 units, an increase of 69.5% year-on-year. It is worth mentioning that BYD Qin’s fellow students Han and Dolphin series achieved amazing year-on-year growth rates of 187.1% and 77,560%, respectively.

As for the cumulative sales from January to August, the top three positions of Xuan Yi (290,097 units), Hong Guang MINIEV (259,647 units), and Lang Yi (220,341 units) remain stable as always. However, Xuan Yi continued to maintain a year-on-year decline, while the second-place Hong Guang MINIEV showed a trend of a year-on-year increase of 17.2%, and the gap between the two is accelerating to narrow.

Just when you thought that Wuling MINI EV was going to rise to the top someday, BYD, the fourth-ranked player, said it wouldn’t give you that chance. Judging from its offensive trend of a year-on-year increase of 171.3%, it will sooner or later dominate the list. In addition, the fifth and sixth places are still occupied by the evergreen vine car models of Camry and Corolla.

The Song series is invincible

In terms of SUV performance, the sales in August reached 836,000 units, an increase of 30.5% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month. The cumulative sales from January to August were 5.912 million units.

Looking at the specific model performance, the BYD Song series once again took the first place with 42,477 units and a year-on-year increase of 151.5%, becoming the most popular SUV model currently with excellent product power and competitive pricing, and with the all-round layout of pure electric and hybrid Song Pro series and Song PLUS series models, it has also become a new energy SUV model that cannot be avoided at around 150,000 yuan.

Do you remember that in June this year, Tesla Model Y led BYD Song by more than 20,000 units, but after two months, BYD Song has overtaken it, and it can be said that this is a matter of time. However, in August, this “up-and-down” player returned to the second place in the list with a single-month sales volume of 31,100 units.

The third place belongs to the old friend Dongfeng Honda CR-V, which sold 23,441 vehicles in August, an increase of 128.0% year-on-year. The analysis shows that the hot sales of CR-V are partly due to the car’s full coverage of the fuel, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid markets. On the other hand, the new CR-V is coming soon, with a terminal discount of about 13,000 yuan, further improving the product’s cost-effectiveness.

The Haval H6 ranked fourth with 18,953 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 9.0%. Following closely behind is the Toyota RAV4, which ranks fifth with 18,798 vehicles. It is worth mentioning that among the SUV list, five Japanese brands got a cumulative of five models, occupying one-third of the list.

In the cumulative sales list of SUVs from January to August, the BYD Song family continued to maintain the first place, with a total sales volume of 242,834 vehicles, an increase of 120.5% year-on-year. Tesla Model Y and Haval H6 ranked second and third, with sales volumes of 172,418 and 166,823 vehicles, respectively. Honda CR-V, Changan CS75, Toyota RAV4, and Nissan X-Trail also had cumulative sales of over 100,000, ranking fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.

BBA is still the rule maker in the industry.

Thanks to the support of various policies, sales of luxury brands (models above 300,000 yuan) in August continued to soar.

In the field of luxury cars in August, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW continued to dominate the rankings with adjusted orders. Among them, the BMW 5 Series grew extremely fast, successfully winning the championship of luxury car sales with a score of 16,039 vehicles, and a year-on-year increase of 4.7%.

Audi A4 returned to the top three last month, ranking second with 13,883 vehicles and a year-on-year growth rate of 65.2%. Volvo S90, Hongqi H9, NIO ET7, and Cadillac CT6 ranked 7th to 10th on the list, which is basically consistent with last month’s situation.

In terms of luxury SUVs, Model Y became the dual champion of August sales (31,112 vehicles) and cumulative sales from January to August (172,418 vehicles), and opened up a big gap with the second-placed Mercedes-Benz GLC (14,557 vehicles). The 3rd and 4th places are Audi Q5L and BMW X3.

It is worth mentioning that BMW X5’s sales increased significantly after localization, rising to fifth place with a single-month sales volume of 8,139 vehicles. As for Ideal ONE, a former “ten-thousand-sales” car, its August sales volume was only 4,571 vehicles, barely making it into the top ten, perhaps due to recent public opinion impact.

“New energy” that makes you dream of the era of Warring States

In the new energy vehicle market, even under the policy of halving purchase tax for fuel vehicles, the sales volume has not been affected and has continued to improve beyond expectations. The retail sales of new energy passenger cars in August alone reached 529,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 111.2% and a month-on-month increase of 8.8%. From January to August, the domestic retail sales of new energy passenger cars reached 3.262 million, a year-on-year increase of 119.7%, forming a “W-shaped” trend from January to August.

Looking at the sales ranking of new energy vehicle manufacturers in August, BYD is still far ahead, achieving an amazing sales volume of 168,885 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 210.5%, and a market share of 31.9%, which is unattainable for other brands in the ranking this month, and the only automaker that exceeded 100,000 and reached the 150,000 level.

The second place is still SAIC-GM-Wuling without any surprise, with a sale of 36,173 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%. Although the sales volume is still rising, compared with other brands, the growth is relatively weak, mainly due to the relatively single models of Wuling.

On the other hand, Geely Auto is undoubtedly a dark horse in the new energy vehicle (NEV) market this year, with a sale of 35,567 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 384.0%, showing strong growth momentum and ranking third.

The fourth is Tesla, with a sale of 34,502 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 167.8%. Since the beginning of this year, Tesla’s Chinese factory has been the main exporter, and the domestic orders are also scheduled for a long time. Especially for some models of Tesla Model Y, the waiting time has reached half a year, and the future sales are still promising.

It is worth mentioning that the new energy vehicle sales of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen in August were 12,244 and 10,375 respectively, with a total of over 22,000 vehicles and a strong year-on-year growth. They have become a major highlight in the NEV market in August this year.

In contrast, “Wei Xiaoli,” once popular, had a mediocre performance in August. NIO sold 10,677 vehicles in August, barely surpassing ten thousand; XPeng Motors sold 9,578 vehicles in August; and Ideal Automobile was squeezed out of the top 15 sales rankings.

In the new energy vehicle segment, BYD Qin took the top spot with 37,511 units sold, pushing the former champion, Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, to second place (33,866 units). BYD Han EV (25,987 units sold, up 187.1% YoY) and BYD Dolphin (23,298 units) occupied third and fourth place, while Guangqi Aion S ranked fifth with sales of 11,683 units.

In the cumulative sales for January to August, the top three spots were still dominated by Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, BYD Qin, and BYD Han, with Tesla Model 3 slipping to sixth place.

In the SUV segment, BYD continued to lead with three models in the top five, including BYD Song (42,477 units), BYD Yuan Plus (15,132 units), and BYD Tang (10,811 units) ranking first, third, and fifth respectively. Tesla Model Y ranked second with 31,112 units sold in August, and Guangqi Aion Y ranked fourth with sales of 11,012 units.

In addition, rising stars such as NETA V, Qianjie M5, JiKe 001, and Leapmotor C11 also entered the top ten rankings (interesting).

In the new energy vehicle market, the improved supply combined with rising oil prices has led to a booming market, as rising oil prices and locked-in electricity prices drive demand for electric vehicles. The new energy and traditional fuel vehicle segments saw obvious growth in August due to policy support. The wide-ranging consumption promotion policies implemented throughout the country, coupled with sustained production by major automakers, have changed the seasonal pattern, further driving up the car market in August.

ConclusionAlthough the domestic automobile market suffered a serious decline in the 3-4 months, fortunately the passenger vehicle market gradually stabilized in May, and the passenger vehicle market in June-August ushered in explosive growth. In addition, the holding of the first A-level car exhibition in China, the Chengdu Auto Show, and the continued launch of new energy vehicles in recent months have allowed China’s auto market to make some progress in repairing the damage in the first eight months of this year, with an overall good performance.

With the halving of the vehicle acquisition tax, upgrading to a private car before the National Day holiday is the best pre-work for self-driving travel, and it is expected that a new wave of heat will come to the market in September.

It is worth mentioning that the current promotional efforts in the auto market are still at a high level, and may enter a promotional contraction period after September according to tradition. The continued surge in sales before the policy exit may further reduce the promotional efforts, making September the best time to buy a car this year.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.