Changes in sales of major passenger vehicle markets worldwide

In August of this year, in the global automotive and mature markets, passenger cars in Europe and the United States maintained steady growth, while passenger cars in the Japanese market experienced a decline; sales of automobiles in emerging markets rose unequally, and passenger cars in China continued to rise.

Note: This article mainly compares and analyzes the growth rate of sales of passenger cars in various countries. As the statistical standards adopted by the national automobile industry associations are not the same, the “passenger vehicles” described in this article can correspond to “light cars” and “home new cars” in different countries. "And so on, the same as "passenger vehicles," the range of vehicles referred to is not the same. Except for sales in a few markets including Russia, including commercial vehicles, sales in other markets refer to sales of “passenger vehicles”.

August 2014 Change in sales volume of major global passenger car market

August 2014 Change in sales volume of major global passenger car market

Mature market

U.S., Europe Steady Growth, Japan Sales Declined

In the mature automobile market, in August of this year, the sales volume of American light vehicles and European passenger vehicles continued to grow, and Japanese passenger cars entered a downward trend.

In August of this year, the sales of light vehicles in the United States increased by 5.4% to 1.57 million units from 1.497 million units in the same period of last year and maintained a steady increase. From January to August, the cumulative sales of light vehicles in the United States reached 11.3132 million units, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%, but the growth rate slowed down from the previous year (7.5%). The withdrawal of government subsidy policy was the most important factor in the slowdown of its growth rate.

The European market, which has continued to decline for a long time, has gradually weakened due to the impact of the European debt crisis and has continued to achieve growth since the beginning of this year. As of August this year, sales of passenger cars in the European market have continued to increase for a year, August sales of 701,100 units, a slight increase of 1.8% year-on-year; January-August total 863,660, an increase of 5.8%.

In the top four passenger car markets in Europe, the UK market performed the best. In August alone, the sales volume of this market increased by only 9.4% year-on-year to 72,200 units. In January-August sales, the sales volume increased by 10%. In August, sales of passenger cars in Germany, France, and Italy all slipped. In January-August, there was only a 5% increase.

Affected by the increase in consumption tax, sales of passenger cars in Japan slipped in August, and sales fell 5.9% to 177,700. From January to August, Japan’s passenger vehicles showed a growth trend, with cumulative sales of 1,983,300, up 5.0% year-on-year, which was related to the lower base of sales volume due to the expiration of energy-saving vehicle subsidies during the same period last year.

Emerging Markets Change Uneven China Leads

In August of this year, the sales of autos in emerging markets have been uneven. Among them, the Chinese market is still leading the rise. In August, the number of passenger cars sold was 1,378,400, which was a year-on-year increase of 10.1%. Indian passenger vehicles sold 213,900 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%. The Russian market light car and Brazilian passenger car both fell more than 20%, respectively, down 25.8% and 20.1% to 172,000 and 193,800 vehicles.

In other emerging markets, sales in August increased in Mexico and Indonesia, while those in Thailand and South Africa fell.