While last month was the first month for the introduction of new fiscal subsidies for new energy vehicles (NEVs), new energy vehicles still registered outstanding sales results, according to latest data. “Usually car sales would decline after the Lunar New Year holidays. However, as the introduction of new fiscal subsidies assured carmakers and consumers this year, new energy vehicle sales continued to rise,” a sales person said.
According to statistics from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the automobile production and sales volume in February stays at low level. The production was 1.706 million, down 36.6 percent from the previous quarter and down 20.8 percent from last year. The sales were 1.718 million, down 38.9 percent from the previous quarter and down 11.1 percent from last year. In contrast to traditional automobile market, the production and sales of new energy vehicles continued to grow rapidly year on the year. The production and sales of new energy vehicles in February was 39,000 and 34,000, an increase of 119.1 percent and 95.2 respectively year-on-year. The production and sales of new energy vehicles during the Jan.-Feb. period was 82,000 and 75,000, an increase of 225.5 percent and 200 percent year on year.
Miao Wei, Minister of the Industry and Information Technology, said in a recent interview that at this stage we must swiftly determine the share of new energy vehicles in China after 2020. Before that time, the share of new energy vehicles should reach 8 percent in 2019 and 10 percent in 2020. This means that calculated on the basis that the auto sales in China will reach 30 million in 2020, the sales target of new energy vehicles will be 3 million by that time.
Industry insiders took the 3 million target challenging. Yet the sales data released by carmakers for February, car sales grew much faster than expected.
Latest data from BYD shows that the company’s new energy passenger vehicle sales in February reached 8,236, an increase of 300 percent over the same period last year. In breakdown, the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles reached 7,631, a substantial increase of 539 percent year-on-year.
The February report of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp., Ltd. (600418.SH) (JAC) shows that the company’s sales of full electric passenger vehicles for the month were 3,048, a year-on-year increase of 2,338.4 percent. The cumulative sales recorded 6,669, an increase of 5235.2 percent year on year.
Recently, Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, said in an interview that by 2020 the sales of new energy vehicles will account for more than 90 percent of the company’s overall sales.
Driven by the strong growth momentum of new energy vehicles, the lithium battery sector in the A-share market was top winner yesterday. Zhejiang Chint Electrics Co., Ltd. (600877.SZ), Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (002709.SZ) and Beijing Easpring Material Technology Co., Ltd. (300073.SZ) surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.
Translated by Coral Zhong
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