China Automobile Dealers Association: A brief analysis of the used car market in April 2022

Overall performance of the used car market in April 2022

In April 2022 , a total of 1.1006 million used cars were traded nationwide , a month -on-month decrease of 16.51% and a monthly year-on-year decrease of 26.10 %. The transaction amount was 75.151 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 16.48% . The transaction volume was lower than market expectations.

From January to April 2022 , the cumulative transaction volume of used cars was 4.9802 million units , a year-on-year decrease of 8.54 % , a decrease of 465,000 units compared with the same period last year , of which April decreased by 388,600 units year-on-year . The cumulative transaction amount was 347.835 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.04% .

In April , the national epidemic situation remained severe, and prevention and control measures were further tightened in various places. The passenger flow and transaction volume in the used car market weakened significantly, with a monthly year-on-year decline of 26.10% . 24 of the 31 provinces in the country showed a year-on-year decline. The double-digit decline trend for two consecutive months since March has never appeared in history. At the same time, many used car operating companies are still in a state of suspension or semi-operation, mainly concentrated in the three northeastern provinces and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. The used car market is generally in a recession.

The main reason is that the continued impact of the epidemic has weakened consumers' purchasing power. From the perspective of vehicle purchase tax in the first quarter, it fell by 20.4% year-on-year , and fell by 6 percentage points compared with January-February . At the same time, based on previous consumption characteristics, there will be a wave of consumer demand before the May Day holiday, but this year many places across the country have implemented relevant prevention and control measures such as not leaving the city unless necessary and celebrating the festival on the spot, and consumers' demand for car purchases before the holiday has also weakened. Secondly, as the areas involved in the epidemic gradually expand, the cross-regional circulation of used cars has been greatly hindered. Data shows that the transfer rate of used cars in April has further decreased to only 22.21 % , the lowest point in the past two years. Third, the current operating expectations of used car dealers are generally not high. According to the second-hand car manager index in April, it is only 39.6 % , and it has been below the boom-bust line for four consecutive months. The operating conditions of used car companies have further declined. From the inventory situation, the inventory cycle in April has reached about 45 days, which is 3 days longer than the previous month . At the same time, due to the decrease in transaction volume, nearly 80% of used car dealers showed that their inventory depth was the same as last month or increased slightly. Therefore, in May , many dealers will focus on clearing inventory and recovering funds, and will not increase inventory in the short term.

The development of the epidemic is still the most important factor affecting the trend of the used car market in May. At present, the peak of the domestic epidemic has passed, and various regions have resumed work and production in an orderly manner, but there are also new situations of sporadic outbreaks and local gatherings. For example, the market pressure in Beijing and Zhengzhou is still very high. Faced with a complex and changing marketing environment, it is expected that the overall transaction scale in May will still be somewhat different from the same period last year. 

The following is a detailed analysis of the structural characteristics of the used car market in April :

Analysis of used car structure by model in April 2022

Specifically, the passenger car situation in April : basic passenger cars traded a total of 650,700 units, down 16.12% month-on-month and 27.7% year-on-year ; SUVs traded a total of 142,100 units, down 16.36% month-on-month and 12.15% year-on-year ; MPVs traded a total of 63,500 units, down 21.22% month-on-month and 27.46% year-on-year ; crossover passenger cars traded a total of 25,800 units, down 16.94% month-on-month and 22.64% year-on-year .

Commercial vehicle situation: 78,000 passenger cars , a decrease of 15.56% month-on-month and 32.63% year-on-year ; 88,300 trucks , a decrease of 14.78% month-on-month and 28.72% year-on-year .

In April , both passenger cars and commercial vehicles showed a significant decline. Passenger cars fell by 16.57% month-on-month and 25.41% year-on-year . Commercial vehicles fell by 15.15% month-on-month and 30.61% year-on-year .

Analysis of vehicle age in used car transactions in April 2022

In April , the transaction volume of used cars with a service life of 3-6 years was the largest , accounting for 40.4% , an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month and 1.7 percentage points from the same period last year ; the proportion of models with a service life of less than 3 years was 31.5% , an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the previous month and 9.9 percentage points from the same period last year ; the proportion of models with a service life of 7-10 years was 17.6% , a decrease of 1.4 percentage points from the previous month and 6.9 percentage points from the same period last year ; the proportion of models with a service life of more than 10 years was 10.5% , an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous month and a decrease of 4.7 percentage points from the same period last year.

Analysis of the situation in six major regions in April 2022

Second-hand car transactions in six major regions in April 2022

In April 2022 , the six major regions of the country all showed a significant month-on-month decline. The most obvious decline was in the Northeast, which fell by 39.57% month-on-month , with a second-hand car transaction volume of 32,600 vehicles; followed by the East China region, which fell by 21.88 % month-on-month, with a second-hand car transaction volume of 328,400 vehicles; the Southwest, Northwest and North China regions fell by more than 10%, down 16.64% , 13.61% and 11.74% respectively , with 197,200 , 52,000 and 141,500 second-hand cars traded respectively; the decline in the Central and South regions was relatively weak, with a total of 348,900 vehicles traded , a month-on-month decrease of 9.79% .

Cross-regional circulation in 2022

Data shows that the upgrade of epidemic prevention policies in many places has had a great impact on the cross-regional circulation of used cars. The transfer rate of used cars in April was 22.21%, a slight decrease of 1.3% month-on-month and a decrease of 5.5 percentage points from the same period last year.