China’s passenger car sales in May rose by 1.8pc from May 2019 indicating that the automotive sector has started gaining momentum after COVID-19. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) refers to it as a V-shaped recovery. Sales increased by 12.6pc compared to April. But the cumulative sales of passenger cars in the Jan-May period fell by 26pc to 6.051mn units.
Wholesale passenger car sales increased by 6.3pc to 1.643mn units in May from the prior-year period. In Jan-May period these declined by 27.8pc to 5.963mn units.
The new energy vehicles segment saw a weak demand in May. Sales declined by 25.8pc to 70,200 units but rose by 19.5pc from the preceding month. Sales of plug-in hybrid passenger cars and pure electric passenger cars fell by 31pc, 27pc to 14,000units and 56,000units, respectively. Sales of general hybrid passenger cars, however, rose by 52pc in the month to 29,000 units from the prior year.
Inventories in factories fell by 32,000 units in May from the prior year, but channel inventory rose by 1mn units. Dealers have now started to restock with a recovery in sales.
Company wise sales
| Car Company | Units sold in May | Pc change (y-o-y) | Jan-May units | Pc change (y-o-y) |
| Geely Automobile | 108,800 | 20.5 | 420,300 | -25 |
| Changan Automobile | 174,000 | 54.28 | 636,000 | -6.29 |
| Dongfeng Motor | 264,500 | 17.6 | 871,300 | -22.7 |
| Jianghuai Automobile | 41,900 | 7 | 168,000 | -17.42 |
| SAIC Group | 473,100 | -1.6 | 1,567,000 | -36.47 |
| BYD | 31,821 | -6.2 | 124,900 | -34 |
| ST Haima | 1,239 | -58.4 | 5,206 | -51.5 |
Luxury car sales in May rose by 28pc from the prior-year period. Tesla sold 11,095 units in May, a rise of 205pc from the prior month. China International Capital Corporation expects luxury car sales to outplay the industry.