China Passenger Car Association: Pickup Truck Market Analysis in April 2022

According to the China Passenger Car Association's national pickup truck market data, the pickup truck market sold 34,000 vehicles in April 2022 , a year-on-year decrease of 32% and a month-on-month decrease of 38% . Due to the serious obstruction of pickup truck production under the impact of the epidemic, the production and sales performance of pickup trucks in April 2022 was poor. This is also a common loss caused by the interruption of parts supply in the industry.

The 32% drop in pickup trucks in April this year was relatively abnormal, mainly due to supply factors. The overall pickup truck trend in January-April this year was relatively poor, reaching 165,000 units, a decrease of 11% from January-April 2021 , and the production and sales performance was abnormal.

Under the general tone of the national automobile promotion policy, the three guarantees policy and road rights policy for pickup trucks strongly support pickup truck consumption, and major automakers have also launched passenger pickup truck products. Driven by the increasingly active pickup truck culture, pickup truck market consumption will continue to grow at a high rate in the long run. On April 25 , the General Office of the State Council issued an opinion on further releasing consumption potential and promoting sustained recovery of consumption. The fourth point , Article 13 of the "Opinion" proposed: " Implement refined management of pickup trucks entering the city, and study further relaxation of restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city. Since the pilot lifting of the pickup truck ban in 2016 , the country's attention to the lifting of the pickup truck ban has risen from the ministry level to the State Council level for the first time. The pickup truck ban has once again received strong policy support, and a full lifting of the pickup truck ban is expected.

The national pickup truck market has returned to the north, with strong markets in the northwest and northeast, and relatively weak market demand in the southwest, south China, and central and southern China. With the sluggish demand for real estate adjustment projects, the recent increase in local government investment has promoted the pickup truck market to be more closely related to finance, and the pickup truck market in small and medium-sized cities and county and township markets has performed well.

The pickup truck market will face great growth pressure in the coming period, especially as the real estate downturn has led to weak demand for pickup trucks, but pickup trucks still perform better than the overall commercial vehicle market. With the gradual rise of pickup truck consumption culture, the efforts of various manufacturers to increase pickup truck consumption will also be effective. The pickup truck market will also benefit from the expansion of the passenger car market.

1. Overall analysis of the pickup truck market

1. Comparison of national pickup truck market trends in April

In April 2022 , the pickup truck market sold 34,000 units, down 32% year-on-year and 38% month-on-month . Due to the severe obstruction of pickup truck production under the epidemic, the production and sales performance of pickup trucks in April 2022 was poor. This is also a common loss caused by the interruption of parts supply in the industry.

Pickup truck sales increased by 10% in 2018. In 2019 , the cumulative sales of pickup trucks reached 440,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 3% . In 2020 , the sales reached 480,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 9% , which is relatively strong.

In 2021 , the growth of light trucks stimulated by the control of overloading is gradually coming to an end. The sales volume of pickup trucks in 2021 was 550,000 , a year-on-year increase of 14% , which is a strong performance compared with traditional light trucks.

The overall pickup truck trend in January-April this year was relatively large, reaching 165,000 units, a decrease of 11% from January-April 2021 , and the production and sales performance was abnormal.

2. Monthly trends of pickup truck market over the years

The pickup truck wholesale market trend remains relatively strong in 2022 , which is also a low start in 2020. Due to the unusually low start of 2020, 2021 has grown strongly. Before April 2022 , the performance was relatively stable compared to December 2018 and 2019 , which is also a reflection of the return to normal .

Pickup trucks are capital goods vehicles. Since there are relatively few pickup trucks purchased before the Spring Festival, pickup truck sales enter the peak season after the Spring Festival. This is also the demand growth point for engineering projects and unit purchases.

The sales volume of passenger cars represents the quality of life and pursuit of Chinese consumers, but the sales volume of commercial vehicles represents the development status of China's small enterprises and small private owners. Only when the demand for commercial vehicles increases and basic people's livelihood issues are resolved, can the passenger car market have the possibility of recovery.

The pickup truck market also directly reflects the development of small private owners. In 2020 , the pickup truck market represented by Great Wall has become the vanguard of the recovery of the automobile market after the epidemic has eased. However, with the downturn in the real estate market and the interference of the epidemic, the operating pressure of the tertiary industry is relatively high, and the pickup truck market is also difficult.

2. Analysis of pickup truck market environment

1. The State Council deploys measures to promote consumption

On April 25, 2022 , the General Office of the State Council issued an opinion on further releasing consumption potential and promoting sustained recovery of consumption. In Article 13 of the fourth point of the "Opinion" , it is proposed: " Implement refined management of pickup trucks entering cities, and study further relaxation of restrictions on pickup trucks entering cities. Since the pilot lifting of the ban on pickup trucks in 2016 , the country's attention to liberalizing the entry of pickup trucks into cities has risen from the ministry level to the State Council level for the first time. The lifting of the ban on pickup trucks has once again ushered in strong policy support, and a full lifting of the ban on pickup trucks is expected.

2. Treating vehicles the same as passenger vehicles Pickup trucks included in the new three guarantees policy for automobiles

The State Administration for Market Regulation has announced the new "Regulations on the Liability for Repair, Replacement and Return of Household Automobile Products" ( Announced by Order No. 43 of the State Administration for Market Regulation on July 22 , 2021 ) (hereinafter referred to as the "Automobile Three Guarantees Regulations"). The regulations will come into effect on February 1, 2022. It is worth noting that the new three guarantees regulations have not only changed in terms of details, but also included pickup trucks in the three guarantees regulations. In other words, at the level of automobile management, the role of pickup trucks has been roughly equivalent to that of passenger cars, which is undoubtedly a favorable policy for the future positioning of pickup trucks.

3. New C6 qualification for pickup trailers

At the end of January 2022 , the Ministry of Public Security announced the "Regulations on the Application and Use of Motor Vehicle Driving Licenses" (Ministry of Public Security Order No. 162 ), which clearly defined the definition of light tractor trailers and the required C6 driving qualifications, establishing a legal basis for the emerging phenomenon of light vehicle trailers. The regulations will take effect on April 1, 2022. It will legalize the driving method of pickup trucks + trailers and give trailer drivers more experience in driving.

4. General technical requirements for multi-purpose trucks come into effect

The national standard "General Technical Conditions for Multi-Purpose Trucks" will be officially implemented on May 1 , 2022 .

This standard applies to multi-purpose trucks with two rows of seats, and single-row pickup trucks are not included in the scope of multi-purpose trucks. The standard clearly defines pickup trucks and sets requirements for size, gradeability, fuel economy, cargo box, tires, etc. It proposes detailed clauses such as " the length of the cargo box top should not exceed 35% of the vehicle length and not exceed 1850 mm" , " the seat spacing should not be less than 650 mm" , " the cargo box should only have the rear tailgate in an openable and closable state " , and " at least one rear seat should be equipped with an ISOFIX child restraint system fixing device " to ensure the dual-use attributes of pickup trucks for passengers and cargo and driving safety.

At the same time, the standard puts forward higher requirements on the collision performance, seat belts, child restraint systems and fixing points, seats and headrests, braking, vision, tires, etc. of pickup trucks, and makes it clear that the technical requirements in these aspects should be consistent with the relevant indicators of passenger cars; and because pickup trucks have higher demands on power, in terms of energy saving and environmental protection, the technical requirements for pollutant emission limits, fuel economy, in-vehicle air quality and electromagnetic compatibility only need to be consistent with existing standards.

3. Regional Characteristics of Pickup Truck Sales

1. Regional changes in the pickup truck market

The pickup truck market is mainly located in the northwest and southwest, and the demand for pickup trucks in the western region is relatively large.

At present, the demand for pickup trucks in the southwest and northwest regions accounts for more than 40% of the total demand , becoming the demand in the two core markets.

The western market has remained relatively stable recently and has no obvious signs of contraction.

At present, the pickup truck markets in North China and the central Yellow River region are growing relatively fast, and the pickup truck market in Northeast China also has obvious start-up characteristics.

However, at present, the pickup truck market in East China and South China has not seen significant growth.

Pickup trucks still perform relatively well in the northern and central-western markets. This is also because the market economies in the northern and central-western markets are relatively inactive, and demand is mainly driven by investment and engineering construction.

The development of private passenger pickup trucks needs to be further strengthened, and the recent Great Wall passenger pickup trucks are worth looking forward to.

2. Pickup Truck Sales Regional Analysis

The main sales areas of the pickup truck market are still mainly small and medium-sized cities and county and township markets, especially the county and township markets, which are relatively strong at present. The county and township markets in April 2022 were particularly outstanding. The medium -sized city market remained stable, and the large city market did not show any obvious breakthrough characteristics.

The market of megacities is gradually shrinking after the outbreak, while among the restricted cities, Tianjin's market performance is relatively outstanding, reaching about 20% of the restricted cities, and Guangzhou is also relatively strong. The Beijing market, which performed relatively strongly in the early stage, is now in a weak state.

4. Competition Analysis of China’s Pickup Truck Market

1. Analysis of pickup truck manufacturers’ performance

In 2022 , the main manufacturers in the pickup truck market performed well. Great Wall Motor Pickup maintained a stable and absolute dominant position, Jiangling Motors' leading position remained stable, Zhengzhou Nissan and others maintained strong growth, and SAIC Maxus, JAC Motors and others performed well.

2. Annual market share trends of pickup truck manufacturers

In April 2022 , the pickup truck market still maintained the trend of 1 super strong, but began to gradually show a trend of differentiation. Great Wall Motors' pickup truck sales are outstanding. In recent years, Great Wall pickup truck sales share has continued to increase, maintaining 37% of the total pickup trucks in 2019 and 48% of the total pickup trucks in 2020. The sales share in 2021 reached 44% . The sales share in April 2022 reached 46% .

From January to April this year , Great Wall Pickup had the leading market share, while Jiangling Motors, Zhengzhou Nissan, Jiangxi Isuzu and others maintained a strong position. With the rapid rise of SAIC Maxus, JAC Motors and SAIC-GM-Wuling Pickup, the leading companies have squeezed the sales of the trailing companies.

3. Monthly trends of pickup truck manufacturers

Some pickup truck companies have performed relatively well recently. After strong quarterly growth, Great Wall Pickup has performed relatively well recently.

In 2022 , the pickup truck manufacturers of traditional large groups are all very strong, especially SAIC Maxus, which has outstanding export performance. Great Wall's pickup trucks have performed well both at home and abroad, and the vitality of new product launches is strong. The pickup trucks of SAIC Maxus and Changan Automobile, which are relatively new forces, performed well.

4. Monthly trends of pickup truck models

Starting from 2020 , with the upgrade of National VI, the speed of product updates and iterations has accelerated, and pickup trucks have entered a period of market adjustment. According to the pickup truck market tracking of the China Passenger Car Association, Great Wall pickup trucks occupy an absolute dominant position in the pickup truck trend. In the early stage, the Fengjun 7 pickup truck performed well, and recently the Great Wall Cannon has performed extremely well, far surpassing the Fengjun 7 to become the market leader.

In 2022 , the growth will mainly come from the second and third-tier markets. The growth will mainly come from the existing fields of engineering construction, municipal power, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, wholesale and retail, as well as new customers such as high-end, passenger, and off-road vehicles. The main models of traditional mainstream car companies have performed very well, Great Wall's product innovation has a good effect, and new products such as the King Kong Cannon have outstanding performance.