Global sales of Chinese-made vehicles rose by almost 12% to a record monthly high of 3.316 million units in November 2024 from 2.970 million units a year earlier, according to passenger car and commercial vehicle wholesale data compiled by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Passenger vehicle sales surged by 15% to 3.001 million units while commercial vehicle deliveries dropped by 14% to 319,000 units.
Domestic sales increased by almost 14% to 2.826 million units last month from 2.488 million a year earlier, as vehicle manufacturers and dealers continued with aggressive promotions and discounts in order to meet their full-year sales targets. The market also responded to recent government stimulus measures aimed at strengthening domestic economic growth. GDP growth slowed to 4.6% year-on-year in the third quarter from 4.7% in the second quarter and 5.3% in the first quarter, well below the government’s growth target of 5% for 2024.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Earlier this year the Ministry of Finance instructed local banks to ease vehicle financing rules while also cutting interest rates. In July the government doubled the one-off subsidy to CNY20,000 (US$2,800) for buyers trading in their old internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles for qualifying new battery electric vehicles (BEVs). In October it unveiled a new stimulus package aimed at supporting the struggling property sector, strengthening bank lending and driving up consumer spending.
Global sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) surged by 47% year-on-year to 1.512 million in November, including a 29% rise in BEV sales to 908,000 units and an 87% surge in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) sales to 604,000 units. Domestic NEV sales increased by 54% to 1.429 million units, while exports fell by 14% to 83,000 units.
Overall vehicle exports increased by less than 2% to 490,000 in November from 482,000 a year earlier, and by 21% to 5.345 million units year-to-date (YTD) from 4.412 million previously.
In the first eleven months of 2024 China’s global vehicle sales increased by almost 4% to 27,940 million units from 26,938 million in the same period of last year, including a 5% increase in passenger vehicle sales to 24,435 million units while commercial vehicle sales fell by over 4% to 3.505 million units. Domestic sales were down slightly to 22.595 million units from 22.526 million in the same period of last year.
Global NEV sales increased by 36% to 11.262 million units YTD from 8.304 million a year earlier, with BEV sales rising by 15% to 6.738 million units while PHEV sales surged by 85% to 4.519 million units. Domestic NEV sales increased by 40% to 10.121 million units, equivalent to around 45% of the local vehicle market.
Manufacturer performances
BYD’s global sales increased by 40% to 3,757,336 units in the first eleven months of 2024, including a 74% jump in overseas sales to 360,050 units. Passenger BEV sales increased by 13% to 1,557,258 units, while PHEV volumes surged by 69% to 2,183,672 units and commercial vehicle sales rose by 54% to 16,406 units.
SAIC Motor’s global sales fell by 19% to 3,529,993 units YTD, with sales lower across most of the group despite a 20% increase in NEV sales to 1,079,984 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling’s deliveries declined by 3% to 1,160,509 units, while SAIC Volkswagen’s sales dropped by 5% to 1,018,101 units and SAIC-GM’s plunged by 57% to 370,989 units. The group’s overseas sales were down by 12% to 937,493 units.
Geely group’s global sales across all brandsglobally increased by 21% to3,006,943units, while GAC Group reported a23% sales decline to 1,719,827 units. Great Wall Motor’s sales were 2% lower at 1,098,006 units – underpinned by a 50% surge in overseas sales to 411,848 units.
Tesla’s overall shipments from its Shanghai plant fell by 4% to 822,894 units YTD, while the brand’s retail sales in China rose by 9% to 574,175 units.
