In January, Chongqing's new energy vehicles (NEVs) sales accounted for 21.3% of the total passenger vehicle sales, up 228% year on year, according to Chongqing Automobile Business Association (CABA) on February 21.
Notably, the sales of all-electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for up to 68%, predicting a rosy future for EVs, and local brands reached more than half of the sales.
Changan Automobile secured the first place
In terms of car type, the sedan sales were 24,200, down 2.8% year on year and up 17.2% month on month; the SUV sales were 32,200, down 4.4% year on year and up 34.1% month on month; the MPV sales were only 1,100, representing a decrease both year on year and month on month.
In the factory of Changan Automobile, robots are welded. (iChongqing file photo )
In terms of car brands, the sales of self-owned brands reached 30,360, growing by 4.5% year on year and accounting for 52.4% of the total; the sales of joint venture brands saw a decline by and large.
Specifically, the sales of German brands were 11,839, falling by 14.5% year on year and accounting for 20.4% of the total, and the sales of American brands were 4,973, sliding by 13.2% year on year and accounting for 8.6% of the total; the sales of Japanese brands were 8,614, going up by only 1.1% year on year and accounting for 14.9% of the total; and the combined market share of Korean, European and French brands was less than 5%.
The proportion of Chongqing self-owned brand and joint venture brand car sales released by Chongqing Automobile Business Association. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)
From the ranking of car manufacturers in the month, Changan Automobile secured first place with monthly sales of nearly 9,000; Geely Auto surpassed SAIC Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen and occupied second place with the monthly sales of 4,362; SAIC-GM, Nissan, and BYD saw their monthly sales exceed 2,000.
Chongqing Automobile Business Association released the ranking of car manufacturers in January 2022. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)
The level 4 autonomous new energy vehicle was produced by Changan Automobile. (iChongqing file photo)
NEV market
When it comes to Chongqing's NEVs market in January, BYD, Tesla, and XPeng were in the top three.
BYD enjoyed a commanding lead with a remarkable monthly sales figure of 2,132 and a market share of 29%. Tesla and XPeng followed with their monthly sales, both exceeding 600. Joint venture brands like Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz were gaining steam but needed more sales. Geely's sub-brands such as Zeekr, Lynk & Co have made it into the top 20.
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 as NEV models by a joint venture brand or imported from overseas still sold best, although China was not the focus of their car delivery in January.
Some insiders from CABA are concerned that despite the unclear economic situation and the dented consumer confidence, the car sales of Chongqing in January show a favorable month-on-month sales growth rate of 23.7%. Due to factors like buying a car before the Spring Festival, the overall market is picking up, and terminal retailing is making steady progress.
Typically, February is when the car market is flat. Besides, due to the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival holidays, coupled with COVID-19, the car market demand would be weakened in February, which is expected to result in a lower sales growth rate, according to CABA.