Automotiv Exports July 2022

smaller battery-powered city cars, most
of which don’t qualify for subsidies, make
up 40% of EV sales, according to auto
consultancy JATO, and cost on average
just under $4,000. That compares with
more than $26,000 in the United States
for equivalent models. Subsidies are now
targeted at bigger models, with a driving
range of more than 300 kilometers per
charge and priced under 300,000 yuan
($44,459). China’s NEV sales increased 45%
year-on-year in April to 299,000, according
to data from the China Association of
Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), while
across the whole auto sector some 1.18
million vehicles were sold. But that jump
was at a much slower pace than growth in
the previous month when sales more than
doubled from a year earlier.
CAAM has urged the government to
consider additional help for the industry.
Overall, April vehicle sales were down
almost 48% from a year earlier, data from
the industry group showed.
Some local governments, including
Guangdong and Chongqing, had also
rolled out stimulus measures to subsidies
consumers who exchange their old
combustion engine vehicles for new EVs in
April.
In what would be a separate move, stateowned
newspaper China Securities Journal
reported that officials would introduce
subsidies from June to encourage more
rural buyers to purchase cars including
NEVs, with payouts of up to 5,000 yuan
($740) per vehicle. Shanghai’s municipal
government is also considering how it can
kickstart spending after a drastic wipeout
of vehicle sales in China’s commercial
and financial hub in April. According to
the Shanghai Automobile Sales Trade
Association, not a single new car was sold
in the city of 25 million people during last
month’s stringent lockdown.
JULY
2022
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