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On January 13, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as CAAM) officially released the 2024 production and sales data, with the two most prominent points being: in 2024, annual production and sales continued to maintain a scale of over 30 million units; new energy vehicles ranked first globally for the 10th consecutive year, with annual production and sales exceeding 10 million units for the first time.
CAAM pointed out: "2024 is a key year for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, competent departments of governments at all levels actively implemented policies and promptly introduced the 'Two New' policies. With the joint efforts of the entire industry, the pace of transformation in the automotive industry accelerated, high-quality development was solidly advanced, and annual production and sales steadily progressed, demonstrating strong development resilience and vitality and becoming an important engine driving economic growth."
CAAM data shows: in 2024, cumulative automobile production and sales reached 31.282 million and 31.436 million units, up 3.7% and 4.5% year on year respectively, not only completing the annual target and continuing to maintain a scale of over 30 million units, but also ranking first globally in total production and sales for the 16th consecutive year.
Looking back at the past year, CAAM pointed out: in 2024, automobile production and sales were generally sluggish in the first half, and the operation of the automotive industry faced difficulties of high inventory and weak consumption, with considerable pressure on both the supply side and the terminal end. As policies were intensified in the third quarter, the terminal end began to show a better development trend and continued into the fourth quarter, with monthly production and sales showing relatively high levels.
Under the premise of overall steady progress, the automobile market also showed a "sound dual circulation" trend—both domestic sales and exports showed positive growth. Among them, domestic automobile sales reached 25.577 million units in 2024, up 1.6% year on year; automobile exports reached 5.859 million units, up 19.3% year on year.
Under the overall positive premise, the performance of various segments also differed. The most striking contrast was that passenger vehicle production and sales continued to grow, while the commercial vehicle market performed weakly, with production and sales failing to reach the expected 4 million units. Compared with commercial vehicles, the passenger vehicle market's production and sales have reached over 25 million units for two consecutive years—in 2024, passenger vehicle production and sales completed 27.477 million and 27.563 million units respectively, up 5.2% and 5.8% year on year respectively.
As the main force of the automotive industry, the passenger vehicle market also presented a sound dual circulation: in 2024, domestic passenger vehicle sales were 22.608 million units, up 3.1% year on year; exports were 4.955 million units, up 19.7% year on year.
In the past year, Chinese-brand passenger vehicles also achieved a great deal. In 2024, sales of Chinese brands reached 17.97 million units, up 23.1% year on year, with a sales share of 65.2%, an increase of 9.2% compared with 2023. In addition, sales of Korean brands showed slight growth, while sales of other major mainstream brands all declined.
Not only did overall sales increase, but Chinese brands also improved in high-end brands—among new energy passenger vehicles, for C-class and D-class passenger vehicles, "Chinese high-end new energy brands represented by models such as AITO developed rapidly, greatly increasing the proportion of new energy vehicles among high-end brand passenger vehicles."
In 2024, China's new energy vehicle production and sales ranked first globally for the 10th consecutive year, and annual production and sales exceeded 10 million units for the first time: new energy vehicle production and sales completed 12.888 million and 12.866 million units respectively, up 34.4% and 35.5% year on year respectively.
Not only that, CAAM pointed out: in 2024, sales of new energy new vehicles reached 40.9% of automobile new vehicle sales, an increase of 9.3 percentage points compared with 2023.
However, among new energy vehicles, plug-in hybrid models saw the fastest sales growth. Among the three major new energy segments, battery electric vehicle sales accounted for 60% of new energy vehicle sales, down 10.4% compared with 2023; plug-in hybrid vehicle sales accounted for 40%, up 10.4% compared with 2023 (exactly consistent with the decline of battery electric vehicles). In addition, fuel cell vehicles also showed a year-on-year decline, with a cumulative decline of 12.6%.
In fact, if we look outward, we will find that the global automobile market generally showed a downward trend in the past year. Although detailed data are not currently available for verification, judging from the sales data of major mainstream brands, sales declined almost without exception. Therefore, by comparison, China is instead one of the few growth markets.
Domestic growth and exports are also growing. CAAM pointed out: since 2021, Chinese automakers' overseas expansion has continued to yield results, and export volumes have risen rapidly, becoming an important force driving the growth of China's total automobile production and sales. In 2024, China's automobile overseas exports still maintained relatively rapid growth: annual exports were 5.859 million units, up 19.3% year on year. Among them, passenger vehicle exports were 4.955 million units, up 19.7% year on year; commercial vehicle exports were 904,000 units, up 17.5% year on year. Among the major automakers in automobile exports, Chery ranked first with 1.144 million units, SAIC Motor ranked second with 929,000 units, and Changan ranked third with 536,000 units. In addition, the fastest export growth was BYD, with a year-on-year increase of 71.8%, followed by Changan with a year-on-year increase of 49.6%, and JAC exported 249,000 units, with a year-on-year increase of 46.7%, ranking third in growth rate.
Author: Liu Jungang
