China's homegrown PV retail sales soar 368.4% YoY in Feb. 2021

In Feb. 2021, around 1.194 million locally-produced PVs (referring to cars, MPVs, SUVs and minibuses) were handed over to consumers in China, representing a year-on-year surge of 368.4%, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The robust hike was mainly credited to the low base for the prior-year period caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Compared to the previous month, China's PV retail sales in Feb. slumped 45.2% by reason of the Chinese New Year holiday. 

For the first two months of 2021, China's PV deliveries totaled 3.375 million units, surging 69.6% year on year, the highest-ever growth for the corresponding period since the data was first released in 2005. The CPCA said the blooming increase was primarily due to the year-ago low base as well. Besides, the Jan.-Feb. retail sales remained flat compared to the same period in 2019, while grew slower than that of the second half of 2020 mainly because of the weaker demands in rural markets as lots of migrant workers didn't return to their hometowns for the control of coronavirus pandemic.

The retail sales of luxury cars in Feb. dropped 45% over the previous month, while jumped 36% compared to the same period in 2019, reflecting the robust demands of replacing old cars with premium ones.

Last month, the retail sales of Chinese indigenous brands also tumbled 45% over a month ago due to the Spring Festival, while slid 6% compared to Feb. 2019. According to the association, local brands accounted for 38.8% of the domestic PV retail sales in Feb., 0.1 percentage points higher than that of the prior-year period.

The champion and the runner-up automakers by Feb. PV retail sales were still FAW-VW and SAIC VW. Compared to Jan. 2021, Changan Auto and SGMW moved up one and three spots respectively to the third and fourth places. Among the top 10 PV makers, there were three China’s self-owned companies, namely Changan Auto, Geely Auto and Great Wall Motor.

As to wholesale performance, automakers in China sold 1.147 million PVs in February, which shoot up 406.9% from a year earlier, while fell 43.8% from the previous month. The year-to-date PV wholesales totaled 3.187 million units, up by 72.8% year on year. 

The rankings of the top 10 automakers by Feb. wholesales had some differences compared to Jan. 2021. Both Changan Auto and Geely Auto climbed two spots to the No.2 and No. 3 places. SAIC VW plunged five spots to the seventh. In addition, SAIC-GM, SGMW and Dongfeng Honda dropped one, two and one places respectively to the fourth, the ninth and the tenth.