China’s Auto Market in April 2021
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released the sales figures for April, showing that BYD sold over 100,000 new energy vehicles, ranking first in the industry; while Tesla only delivered 1,512 vehicles due to the impact of the pandemic.
In April, the retail sales of China’s passenger car market were 1.042 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 35.5% and a month-on-month decrease of 34.0%. The monthly sales volume was the lowest since the epidemic in 2020.
The wholesale sales of new energy passenger cars in April were 280,000 units, down 38.5% month-on-month; the retail sales were 282,000 units, down 36.5% month-on-month.
In April, four new energy vehicle manufacturers had wholesale sales exceeding 10,000 units:
- BYD with 105,475 units;
- SAIC-GM-Wuling with 30,020 units;
- Chery with 15,568 units;
- GAC Aion with 10,212 units.
BYD not only became the new energy vehicle sales champion this month, but also the champion of China’s overall automotive sales. Its layout of factories and highly integrated industrial chain helped BYD demonstrate its strong supply capability during the epidemic.
Tesla China produced 10,757 vehicles in April, but delivered only 1,512 vehicles, mainly due to the direct sales model and the impact of the pandemic on the transportation of new cars. The suspension of logistics also affected the port shipping. In April, Tesla China’s export figure reached zero, so the European market that needs to import Tesla from China is undoubtedly facing more severe delivery delays in Q2.
According to CAAM data, due to the impact of the pandemic and the high backlog of orders, the delivery of new energy vehicles has been delayed. However, in terms of the overall new energy market, the manufacturers have sufficient orders before the price increase trend arrives, and more people choose private cars for short-distance travel during the pandemic, which has also driven the development of the new energy market.
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.