China Automobile Association: The domestic automobile production and sales situation in 2012 is better than the previous year

author：newstime：2011-12-20

In 2011, the domestic automobile market in China bid farewell to rapid growth as the growth rate sharply declined. According to statistics released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on the 12th, domestic automobile production and sales reached 18.4189 million and 18.5051 million units respectively, representing increases of 0.84% and 2.45% compared to the previous year. However, these growth rates were significantly lower by 31.60 and 29.92 percentage points respectively, marking the slowest growth in 13 years.

Officials from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers pointed out that the sharp slowdown in automobile production and sales growth in 2011 was primarily influenced by macroeconomic control measures, the withdrawal of incentive policies, a high base effect from the previous year, and restrictions on vehicle purchases in some cities. Specifically, the withdrawal of national macroeconomic control measures and incentive policies played a major role in limiting automotive growth in 2011.

The statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers also revealed that the passenger vehicle segment performed better than the commercial vehicle segment in 2011. Passenger vehicle production and sales reached 14.4853 million and 14.4724 million units respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 4.23% and 5.19%, exceeding the industry's overall growth rate. Conversely, commercial vehicles experienced negative growth. Among passenger vehicles, except for cross-type passenger vehicles (microvans) which declined, sedans, SUVs, and MPVs generally performed well, surpassing the industry's average growth rate.

Due to the withdrawal of policies encouraging small-displacement passenger vehicles such as reduced vehicle purchase taxes and subsidies for rural car purchases, and considering that domestic brands primarily focused on small-displacement cars, several domestic brand automakers saw declines in sales in 2011. Domestic brand passenger cars collectively sold 6.1122 million units, a decrease of 2.56% year-on-year (domestic sales excluding exports decreased by 5.42%), with their market share dropping by 3.37 percentage points compared to the previous year. Sales of domestic brand sedans reached 2.9464 million units, an increase of 0.46% year-on-year, accounting for 29.11% of total sedan sales but decreasing by 1.78 percentage points in market share compared to the previous year.

Officials from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers anticipate that in 2012, the domestic automobile market will return to normal growth, and the overall annual production and sales situation will improve compared to the previous year.