Top 3 auto enterprises in China declined in sales of April

In accordance with statistical data from Gasgoo.com, there are 5 passenger car sales companies of top 10 in China declining YoY in sales of April. The decreasing rates of Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW Volkswagen, Shanghai GM, Dongfeng Nissan and Beijing Hyundai are 5.6%, 16.9%, 16.7%, 14.3% and 0.8%.

The performance of above enterprises is closely related to weak market environment. The data from China Automotive Industry Association shows the production volume of April are 2,079,700, declining by 8.9% MoM and increasing by 0.6% YoY, and the sales volume of April are 1,994,500, declining by 11% MoM and by 0.5%. The total auto production and sales volumes in China from Jan. to Apr. are 8,280,800 and 8,144,800, increasing by only 4.1% and 2.8% YoY.

Industry analysts think it is unreasonable to put the blame on China auto market environment for the unsatisfied performance of top auto enterprises. The sales structure is an important factor for Shanghai & FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai GM, whose sales mainly come from saloon car, because the demand of saloon car in first 4 months of 2015 just holds the line or even declines. Entry luxury car and local SUV also produce a lot of effect on B & A segment cars. The less stock of auto distributors might be another important factor.

At the same time, the performance of self-owned brand auto enterprises during first 4 months becomes better and better. In accordance with related data, the sales volume of self-owned brand passenger car is 686,400 in April, increasing by 14.3% YoY and occupying 41.13% of total passenger car sales volume in China, declining by 2.67 MoM but increasing by 3.81% YoY. The sales volumes of Changan auto and GWA in April are 74,300 and 67,800, increasing by 40.4% and 41.8% YoY.

Towards the competitive market, main joint ventures including Volkswagen and Ford have already started sales reduction promotion. Industry analysts regard it as the reflection of inflexible policy making and absolutely provide great opportunities for self-owned brand auto enterprises.