China Automobile Dealers Association: In-depth analysis of the national used car market in August 2022

1. Market Overview in August 2022

Monthly transaction trends of the used car market in 2022

• In August 2022, the national used car market transaction volume was 1.4676 million vehicles, a month-on-month increase of 1.69% and a year-on-year decrease of 2.04%, with a transaction amount of 95.66 billion yuan.
• In the first two weeks of this month, continuous high temperature and rainy weather in parts of the south affected some offline customer attraction effects, resulting in weak market demand. Later, the repeated epidemics in the southwest and northwest regions caused a slight decline in the market in the third and fourth weeks. Although many unfavorable factors have affected the transaction volume this month, the transaction scale has continued to show a gradual recovery since April.

Weekly analysis of September 2022

• The average daily transaction volume in the third week of September was 61,300 vehicles, an increase of 11.33% from the previous week and 1.65% from the same period in August.
• The average daily transaction volume in the second week was 55,000 vehicles, down 7 percentage points from the same period in August.
• The average daily transaction volume in the first week was 54,900 vehicles, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous week and down 7.26% from the same period in August.
• The transaction volume in September is expected to be around 1.48-1.5 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 4.76%. The transaction volume in the first three quarters is expected to be 12 million vehicles, a cumulative year-on-year decrease of 7.5%.

Changes in market segments in August 2022

• A total of 868,000 basic passenger cars were traded, a month-on-month increase of 2.13% and a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%; a total of 186,100 SUVs were traded, a month-on-month increase of 0.86% and a year-on-year increase of 11.8%; a total of 90,300 MPVs were traded, a month-on-month decrease of 0.8% and a year-on-year increase of 2.9%; a total of 31,700 crossover passenger cars were traded, a month-on-month decrease of 1.51% and a year-on-year decrease of 8.5%.
• Commercial vehicle situation: 90,800 passenger cars, a decrease of 0.17% month-on-month and 15.6% year-on-year; 122,800 trucks, an increase of 1.61% month-on-month and 2.9% year-on-year.

Changes in market segments from January to August 2022

• From January to August 2022, the total transaction volume of the national used car market was 10.496 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 7.9%, and the decline narrowed by 0.8 percentage points from January to July. A total of 6.2142 million basic passenger cars were traded, a year-on-year decrease of 9.8%; a total of 1.3428 million SUVs were traded, an increase of 8.7% year-on-year, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from January to July; a total of 632,300 MPVs were traded, a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%; and a total of 238,600 crossover passenger cars were traded, a year-on-year decrease of 7%.
• Commercial vehicle situation: 703,500 passenger cars, a year-on-year decrease of 19.8%; 848,800 trucks, a year-on-year decrease of 11.3%.

Analysis of used car sales of various levels in August 2022

• In August 2022, in terms of the overall sales of cars of all levels, Class A cars are still the most popular models in the used car market, accounting for an average of 50.2%, a decrease of 0.2% from the previous month, followed by Class B cars with an average share of 23.7%, an increase of 0.7% from the previous month. Class C cars accounted for an average of 7.7%, an increase of 0.3% from the previous month. Class D cars accounted for 2.1%, which was basically the same as the previous month; in August, the proportion of Class A and below cars decreased slightly from the previous month, while Class B and Class C models increased slightly from the previous month.

Analysis of used new energy vehicle models in August 2022

• In August 2022, among the used new energy vehicles nationwide, the transaction proportion of A0, A, MPV, and SUV models increased compared with the previous month, while the other models decreased to varying degrees. Among them, the proportion of SUV models increased most significantly, increasing by 1.6% from the previous month, accounting for 39.2%. The proportion of A00-class models decreased by 1.9 percentage points, accounting for 18.8%. C-class models accounted for 1.4%, which remained the same as the previous month.

Analysis of vehicle age in used car transactions in August 2022

• In August, the transaction volume of used cars with a service life of 3-6 years was the largest, accounting for 42.2%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month and 6.6 percentage points from the same period last year;
• The proportion of models with a service life of less than 3 years was 30%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month and an increase of 6.9 percentage points from the same period last year;
• Vehicles aged 7-10 years accounted for 20%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the previous month and a decrease of 4.2 percentage points from the same period last year;
• Vehicles with a history of more than 10 years accounted for 7.8%, down 0.6 percentage points from the previous month and down 9.3 percentage points from the same period last year.

Analysis of the age of used car transactions from January to August 2022

• From January to August, the transaction volume of used cars with a service life of 3-6 years was the largest, accounting for 39.9%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points over the same period last year;
• The proportion of models with a service life of less than 3 years was 30.5%, an increase of 8.4 percentage points over the same period last year;
• Vehicles aged 7-10 years accounted for 19.4%, down 5 percentage points from the same period last year;
• Vehicles that are more than 10 years old accounted for 10.2%, a decrease of 5.9 percentage points from the same period last year.

Analysis of the service life of used new energy vehicles in 2022

• In August 2022, the proportion of used new energy vehicles in the country with a use life of less than 2 years was 46%, an increase of 4.2% from the previous month and an increase of 25% from the same period last year.
• The proportion of vehicles with a usage period of 2-4 years was 35.9%, a decrease of 3.7% from the previous month and an increase of 3.1 percentage points from the same period last year.
• The transaction volume with a usage period of 4-6 years accounted for 15.5%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the previous month and a decrease of 22.5% from the same period last year.
• Those with more than 6 years of marriage accounted for 2.6%, the same as last month and 5.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
• Overall, in August, the age of used new energy vehicles decreased compared to July, and the proportion of models within 2 years increased significantly.

Note: The data does not include hybrid models

Analysis of the transaction price range of used cars in August 2022

• In August, second-hand cars with transaction prices below 30,000 yuan accounted for the largest market share, accounting for 31.4%, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points from the previous month.
• Vehicles in the price range of RMB 30,000 to RMB 50,000 accounted for 23.6%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.
• Second-hand cars priced above 300,000 yuan accounted for the smallest market share at 2.5%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.
• In August, the proportion of second-hand car transactions in the price ranges of 30,000-50,000, 50,000-80,000, 80,000-120,000, and 120,000-150,000 increased slightly, while the proportion of transactions in other price ranges decreased.
• Overall, in August, second-hand cars priced under 80,000 yuan accounted for 72.3%, up 0.6% from the previous month, of which cars priced under 50,000 yuan accounted for 55.1%, down 0.2% from the previous month. Cars priced over 150,000 yuan accounted for 1.4% less than the previous month.

Analysis of prices of used new energy vehicles in August 2022

• In August 2022, the sales price of new energy used vehicles moved up. Overall, new energy used vehicles with a price of more than 150,000 yuan accounted for 27.52%, an increase of 1.13 percentage points from the previous month, of which 150,000-300,000 yuan increased by 0.98% from the previous month. The proportion of vehicles with a price of more than 300,000 yuan increased by 0.15%. Models in the 50,000-80,000 yuan range accounted for 15.27%, an increase of 1.92% from the previous month.
• The proportion of models priced under 50,000 yuan decreased by 2% compared with the previous month, of which the proportion of models priced under 30,000 yuan decreased by 1.28%, and the proportion of models priced between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan decreased by 0.68%. The proportion of models priced between 80,000 and 150,000 yuan accounted for 11.6%, a decrease of 1.1% compared with the previous month, of which the proportion of models priced between 80,000 and 120,000 yuan decreased by 0.55%, and the proportion of models priced between 120,000 and 150,000 yuan decreased by 0.59%.

Note: The data does not include hybrid models

Analysis of the six major regions in August 2022

• In August 2022, the six major regions of East China, South Central China, North China, and Northeast China increased month-on-month, while Southwest China and Northwest China decreased month-on-month. The fastest growing region was East China, mainly driven by Shanghai and Jiangsu, with a month-on-month increase of 8.14% and a second-hand car transaction volume of 514,700 vehicles; followed by South Central China, with a month-on-month increase of 3.06% and a second-hand car transaction volume of 385,300 vehicles. Guangxi's market performance this month was good, with a month-on-month growth rate of more than 10%. In addition, Hainan fell by 34.6% month-on-month due to the epidemic, but due to the small base, the impact on the entire region was not obvious. Northeast China saw a month-on-month increase of 2.43%, with a second-hand car transaction volume of 94,700 vehicles. Among them, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces saw a slight month-on-month increase, while Liaoning Province saw a slight month-on-month decrease of 1%; North China saw a slight month-on-month increase of 0.07%, with a second-hand car transaction volume of 196,200 vehicles; among them, the Shanxi market grew rapidly, with a month-on-month increase of 8.9%, and Tianjin saw a slight increase of 1.5% compared with the previous month; Sichuan, Chongqing and Tibet saw a sharp decline due to the impact of the epidemic, which had a more obvious impact on the overall southwest region. This month, the southwest region saw a month-on-month decrease of more than 10%, with a second-hand car transaction volume of 201,700 vehicles; the northwest region saw a month-on-month decrease of 5.97%, with a second-hand car transaction volume of 75,000 vehicles.

Average price of used cars nationwide in 2022

• The average price of used cars continued to decline in August. The market is still in a relatively depressed period, transactions are sluggish, and there is no momentum for prices to rise.
• The prices of used fuel vehicles continued to decline, the overall distribution of new energy vehicle transaction prices moved upward, and the proportion of models priced above 150,000 yuan continued to increase.

2. Analysis of the liquidity of used cars

Cross-regional circulation in 2022

• In August, the domestic epidemic situation was severe and complicated. Large-scale epidemics occurred in Hainan, Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang and other places, and national prevention and control measures were further tightened. On the other hand, with the vigorous promotion of the full cancellation of the second-hand car migration restriction policy, the cross-regional circulation of second-hand cars has gradually become smooth. Overall, the transfer of second-hand cars rebounded slightly in August. The transfer rate of second-hand cars increased slightly by 0.2 percentage points compared with July, and the transfer rate was 26.92%, which was still slightly lower than the same period last year. Since the beginning of this year, the epidemic has been delayed and repeated, and there are many uncertainties in the second-hand car market. It is expected that the cross-regional circulation of second-hand cars across the country will continue to improve in September.

Transfer of permanent residence by province and city in August 2022

• In August 2022, the top five provinces in the country in terms of transfer rates were Beijing, Hubei, Shandong, Shanghai, and Anhui. Among them, Beijing had the highest transfer rate of 41.93%, and the transfer rates in Hubei, Shandong, and Shanghai exceeded 30%. Specifically in terms of the transfer volume, Hubei Province had the most obvious growth, with the transfer volume of used cars increasing by 21% year-on-year to 15,400 vehicles. Shanghai was second with a year-on-year increase of 24.1% and a transfer volume of 19,900 vehicles. Anhui's decline was significant compared with the same period last year, down 52.3% year-on-year, with a transfer volume of 4,700 vehicles.

3. Dealer Survey

Analysis of the situation of used car dealers

V. Analysis of “Bank” Certification

Regional distribution of certified vehicle sources in September 2022

• In September 2022, the bank received a total of 89,506 vehicle source data, a decrease of about 2% from August, of which 78,550 vehicle source data that met the bank certification standards decreased by about 5% from August. Among them, the data that met the bank certification standards this month accounted for nearly 88% of the total submissions.

• Affected by the repeated outbreaks in multiple regions, the uploaded data in some areas has declined this month, but from the overall trend, the uploaded vehicle source data this month has remained relatively stable.