Since March 1, various car companies have successively released the delivery situation in February, and the auto market has entered the off-season of sales in February due to the impact of the Spring Festival holiday. Judging from the data, the overall sales volume of the industry showed a month-on-month decline. The deliveries of NIO, Xpeng and Nezha all showed varying degrees of month-on-month declines. BYD also declined, but its sales still topped the new energy list.
Previously, the China Automobile Dealers Association predicted that the terminal sales of passenger cars in February would be about 1.2 million, slightly lower than the same period last year. According to the Passenger Car Association, the retail sales of narrow passenger cars in February are expected to be about 1.15 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 157%, unlike last year's month-on-month increase, February this year was the lowest point of the year's auto market, returning to the historical regular seasonal trend.
In other words, the industry expects February to be the lowest sales point of the year. Even so, there are also car companies that achieved contrarian growth in February, such as Wenjie, Zeekr, VOYANT, etc.
The new car-making forces that have been coerced
In February, BYD's sales still occupied the top spot in the new energy list, with 122311 new energy vehicle sales. However, BYD's sales in February fell 37% year-on-year from 193655 units in the same period last year, and the cumulative sales in the first two months of 2024 were 32380,000 units, down 61%。
Li Auto delivered a total of 20,251 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 218%, sales are still far away from Xpeng and NIO. NIO delivered 8,132 new vehicles in February, down 34% year-on-year; Xpeng Motors delivered 4,545 new cars in February, down 24% year-on-year; Nezha Automobile's sales in February were 6,085 units, down nearly 40% year-on-year.
It is worth mentioning that the sales volume in February reached 21,142 units, achieving 503A significant year-on-year increase of 2% exceeded the ideal sales volume for two consecutive months. However, there is still no distance between the two.
Specifically, the largest number of deliveries is still the M7, with a total of 18,479 vehicles delivered in February. In January this year, Wenjie said that the order volume of the M7 exceeded 130,000, so it seems that the previous orders can be supported by consumption alone. Ideal is still able to maintain a monthly delivery volume of more than 20,000 against the trend, perhaps still because of its preferential campaign that began in January, that is, the maximum drop of 360,000 yuan plus the policy of allocation.
Along with Wenjie and Ideal, there are also Zeekr, Leap and VOYANT, with sales of 7,510, 6,566 and 3,182 units in February, respectively, a year-on-year increase of % and 191%.
GAC Aion sold 16,676 units in February 2024, down 332%, down 44 percent year-on-year6%。In the face of the squeeze of BYD, Wenjie and ideal, GAC Aion felt the pressure.
Pure electric vehicles have a tendency to be surpassed by plug-in hybrids
Judging from the sales volume announced by car companies, there is a trend that is becoming more and more obvious: only pure electric models such as NIO and Xpeng have experienced a year-on-year decline; Car companies with both plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles have begun to achieve substantial growth.
From BYD's point of view, BYD's DM model sales accounted for 54% of BYD's monthly sales in February this year9%, and the proportion of DM sales reached a record high. This means that in BYD, plug-in hybrid sales have begun to surpass pure electric sales.
Geely, which closely followed BYD in terms of sales, sold more than 110,000 units in February, a slight increase of 3% year-on-year, and it was also dominated by fuel vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Chery, which surpassed Geely and BYD, sold 14 percent in February30,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 378%, and the main sales volume is fuel vehicles.
According to the data of the Passenger Car Association, from February 2023, the sales proportion of PHEV models among new energy vehicles has generally increased. This state reached its peak in January this year, with plug-in hybrid models accounting for 40% of new energy sales for the first time in January, up from 32% in December last year.
All kinds of trends show that the development of new energy has reached the current stage, and consumers are becoming more and more cautious about the choice of electric vehicles.
Taking BYD as an example, the models that fought in February were Qin Plus DM-i Glory Edition, Song Pro DM-i Glory Edition, Seal DM-i Glory Edition, etc., and put a greater proportion of discounts on DM models. Qiyuan A05, Wuling Xingguang and many other models that follow the drop are basically plug-in hybrid models, and they all play the slogan of "electricity is lower than oil". To a certain extent, it is also to cater to consumer choices.
According to the data released by mainstream car companies, the sales proportion of plug-in hybrid in February is likely to reach a new high. According to this trend, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles may become mainstream this year.
However, this does not mean that pure electric models no longer have advantages. According to the initial setting of the new energy revolution, hybrid models play an important role in the "transition". Therefore, car companies that have made a two-handed layout in hybrid and electric models now have a great advantage.
From late February to early March, blockbuster new cars from various car companies were launched one after another. In addition to BYD's launch of a variety of models, on February 27, ZEEKR Automobile launched the 2024 ZEEKR 001; On March 1, Li Auto officially released the family technology flagship MPV - Ideal MEGA, as well as three products: the 2024 Ideal L series models; Also on March 1, NIO's 2024 series models began to be delivered; On March 2, Leapmotor C10 was officially launched.
After the start of the year, the competition in the new energy vehicle market has intensified, and the launch of various new products will accelerate the process of new energy in various market segments.