New-energy cars gain increasing popularity
China's auto sales slowed to a 3.9 percent growth year-on-year in the first quarter, mainly dragged down by the weak performance of commercial vehicles, showed data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released on Thursday.
The growth rate was 9.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014, CAAM data showed.
China sold a total of 6.15 million units of vehicles in the first quarter of this year. Total sales of passenger cars reached 5.3 million units, up 8.95 percent year-on-year, while the sales of commercial vehicles dropped 19.48 percent on a yearly basis to 847,900 units during the period, according to CAAM.
"Auto sales growth this year will be weaker than that in 2014, but it will be higher than the level in the first quarter," Dong Yang, secretary-general at CAAM, said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
China's auto sales grew by 6.9 percent year-on-year in 2014.
Sales of China's homegrown-branded passenger cars were 2.29 million units in the first quarter, accounting for 43.21 percent of the segment - 4.23 percentage points higher than the same period in 2014, CAAM data showed.
But in the sedan segment, homegrown brands have seen their share further decline during the period. Sedan sales of homegrown brands dropped 2.3 percent year-on-year to 710,400 units in the first quarter, and their market share dropped 0.5 percentage points to 22.9 percent in the period, CAAM data showed.
The country's homegrown brands have entered a crucial stage and some may be phased out, Liang Guofeng, vice-president at Beijing-based automaker BAIC Motor Corp, said at the press conference. Citing examples like Great Wall Motor Co and Changan Automobile Group, Liang noted that quality products are crucial for the survival of China's homegrown automakers.
Great Wall Motor topped the sales list of homegrown auto brands in 2014, with sales of 612,500 units. The company was followed by Changan Automobile, which sold 572,400 units last year.
Sales of new-energy vehicles remain strong in the first quarter, with 26,581 units sold during the period, up 280 percent year-on-year. Production of new-energy vehicles jumped nearly three times to 27,271 units during the period, data from CAAM showed.
In March, the Ministry of Transport set a target of having 300,000 new-energy vehicles on China's roads by 2020.
