16 | Monday, February 8, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY 10 | Wednesday, March 6, 2019 CHINA DAILY
January sales bounce Short Torque Daimler to spin off back after grim year trucks’ division German automaker Daimler By CAO YINGYING will split itself into two inde [email protected] pendent companies by spinning off its truck and bus division, a A year on from the outbreak of It is hard to deny that move the company said would COVID19 that plunged Chinese the significant rise in give both the freedom to oper car sales into darkness, sales have ate more nimbly in a fastchang returned to a reasonable prepan sales of electric cars ing environment focused on demic level with signs of growth is driven by a zeroemission vehicles and soft among certain segments. ware. The Stuttgartheadquar The China Association of Auto renewed interest in tered company said Wednesday mobile Manufacturers forecast on new energy vehicles, that a significant majority stake Thursday that car sales in China in the truck business would be will total 2.54 million units for and there still distributed to current share January, increasing 31.9 percent remains huge holders, and that Daimler yearonyear. would “at the appropriate time” The January figures follow the development be renamed MercedesBenz, the trend since April 2020 when car potential ahead.” brand name under which it sells sales bounced back after the suc luxury cars. cessful containment of the virus Yale Zhang, managing director of Shanghaibased consulting in China and the recovery of the firm Automotive Foresight General Motors shut Chinese economy. plants over shortage The latest statistics show that SAIC Motor exports a sizeable number of MGbranded electric vehicles to Europe in October China’s leading domestic electric strong before Spring Festival in 2020. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY General Motors will temporarily car brands, including Nio, Xpeng 2020 and a certain amount of that halt production at three facto Motors and Li Auto, recorded demand had accumulated toward ries and cut output by half due strong sales growth in January. the end of the year, Zhang said. to the global shortage of semi Nio delivered 7,225 new cars in Comparative yearonyear sales conductors, the auto giant said January, up by 352.1 percent on a growth for February and March Wednesday. Starting next week, yearly basis and setting a new this year will be even higher Chinese firms seek to GM will suspend output at a US record for singlemonth deliveries because production and dealer factory in Kansas, another in for a consecutive sixmonth peri ships closed due to the virus out the Canadian province of Ontar od. break in February 2020, he said. io and a third in San Luis Potosi, Xpeng delivered 6,015 cars last In addition to electric carmak Mexico. A plant in South Korea month, up from 5,700 deliveries in ers, the Hongqi brand of leading get foothold in Europe will be run at half capacity. The December and growing 470 per Chinese automaker FAW Group announcement is the latest rip cent on a yearly basis. posted rising sales in January. The ple effect of a global supply Li Auto announced it delivered brand hit a new high of 32,500 crunch that stemmed in part 5,379 vehicles in January, up 355.8 vehicle sales in the month, up 158 Automobile manufacturers seek to capitalize European market this year, and all from outsized chip demand for percent yearonyear. percent yearonyear. are plugin hybrids or electric vehi game consoles and other con Yale Zhang, managing director The upscale brand’s fullyear on continent’s push for new energy vehicles cles. sumer electronics during the of Shanghaibased consulting sales doubled over the previous Last year, SAIC launched its own coronavirus pandemic. firm Automotive Foresight, said year to 200,338 in 2020. shipping service to speed up deliver that the yearonyear growth Volvo posted yearonyear By LI FUSHENG Motor Corporation is planning to ies to make the most of its early EU auto market doesn’t have great significance growth of 91.4 percent with 19,122 [email protected] sell 300,000 vehicles in Europe by advantages as European carmakers, rebound predicted because sales last January were sales in January. It marked the 2025, of which 7080 percent will be such as Volkswagen, bring their elec affected by both the earlier Spring 10th consecutive month of dou Chinese carmakers are plying electric vehicles or plugin hybrids. tric models to market. The European Union auto mar Festival holiday and the outbreak. bledigit growth for the carmaker. their way into Europe, as the conti Yu De, a senior executive in charge Its first model, the ID.3, as well as ket, devastated by the coronavi “While it is hard to deny that China’s Changan Automobile nent where the modern gasoline car of SAIC’s overseas business, said the Audi’s etron have acquired some rus pandemic in 2020, should the significant rise in sales of elec announced it sold 251,980 vehi was invented shifts its focus toward company has made some break market share in Europe, said Volks rebound by 10 percent this year, tric cars is driven by a renewed cles in January, spiking 87.24 per new energy vehicles. throughs, and around 25,000 of its wagen Group CEO Herbert Diess in an industry group survey interest in new energy vehicles, cent yearonyear. Its joint On Thursday, a ship laden with electric and plugin hybrids were a Twitter post in January. showed Wednesday. EU car and there still remains huge ventures, Changan Ford and 209 electric Xpeng G3 SUVs left sold in Europe in 2020. In France, Renault doubled its sales plunged by an unprece development potential ahead,” Changan Mazda, saw yearon Guangzhou in South China’s Guang The sales earned it carbon credits electricvehicle sales in the Europe dented 23.7 percent last year as Zhang said. year growth of 96.10 percent and dong province bound for Norway. worth 40 million euros. Europe has an market in 2020, selling 115,888 the pandemic forced govern Statistics from the State Infor 33.77 percent last month, selling This is the company’s second ship traditionally been difficult for inter vehicles and representing more than ments into costly lockdowns mation Center show there were 30,117 and 11,860 vehicles respec ment to the Nordic country, after the national carmakers to gain a signifi 100 percent growth from 2019. but with the economy now 633,000 private sales of new ener tively. first 100 arrived in December. cant market share. Many of those vehicles were sold steadying, the outlook is bright gy vehicles from last January to Japanese carmaker Honda sold Xpeng is one of China’s popular Toyota has been in Europe for to companies that offer vehicles for er. The European Automobile November, increasing 52.5 per 157,457 vehicles in the first month electric car startups, but is not the around 50 years and its market share employees. Personal customers cur Manufacturers’ Association cent yearonyear. Private sales of 2021, up 104.8 percent yearon only brand that is exploring the is usually no more than 10 percent, rently prefer plugin hybrids instead. forecasts that 2021 will mark a accounted for 71.5 percent of total year. Its joint ventures GAC Hon European market, where sales of said Yu. But analysts said this is favorable first step on the path to recov new energy vehicle sales in that da and Dongfeng Honda new energy vehicles are soaring. But he said the new energy vehicle for Chinese carmakers, which are ery, with sales rising by about period, which was just 20 percent respectively sold 67,321 and Another startup, WM, and estab market is offering opportunities for usually littleknown in European 10 percent. two years ago. 90,136 vehicles, up 87.8 percent lished carmaker BYD are selling Chinese carmakers that have been markets. Purchasing was relatively and 122.5 percent yearonyear. vehicles to Europe as well. Nio is active early on. As long as they can convince one Virus slams brakes planning its foray. China started in earnest its new company, they can sell many vehicles, on Volvo earnings Last year, nearly 1.4 million elec energy vehicle initiative in 2009, so and that is far more efficient than tric cars and plugin hybrids were local companies have since gone selling them to individual customers. Sweden’s Volvo Group, the sold in Europe, skyrocketing 137 per through several rounds of develop And the presence of Chinese vehi world’s second biggest truck cent from 2019, in a vehicle market ment in terms of product design and cles on the street will help improve maker, on Wednesday reported struck by the pandemic that was car quality. their brand awareness among indi a sharp drop in 2020 earnings down 20 percent yearonyear. One of China’s largest electric car viduals, they said. due to the coronavirus pandem The figure in European countries makers, BYD, has sold over 1,400 China’s battery makers are trying ic, although business rebounded combined dwarfs sales in China, electric buses in Europe. SAIC to make the most of the zeal for elec in the fourth quarter. In 2020, which has been the world’s largest Motor’s MG EZS EV was the first tric vehicles in Europe and are set the group saw “dramatic fluctu single market since 2015. smallsized electric SUV to receive a ting up plants to produce batteries ations in demand” due to the Similarly to the direction China fivestar Euro New Car Assessment for local carmakers. COVID19 pandemic, chief exec has taken, European governments Programme rating. CATL began construction on its utive Martin Lundstedt said in a are giving generous incentives for Robin Zheng, a senior analyst at first overseas plant in Germany in statement. For 2021, Volvo consumers to purchase EVs. Roland Berger, said, “Their (Chinese late 2019. Its annual production raised its sales forecasts in its In Germany, buyers can save up to carmakers’) entry into northern and capacity is expected to reach 14 GWh trucks division — its core busi 9,000 euros ($10,940) on purchases western Europe means they are when completed in 2022. ness — in Europe, North Ameri of new electric vehicles. France accepted by the strictest consum Last year, Svolt, a spinoff from ca and Brazil. offered incentives of up to 7,000 ers.” Chinese car manufacturer Great euros in 2020, but will trim that SAIC is currently selling three Wall Motors, said it will invest up to 2 FAW planning to sell Nio delivers 7,225 new cars in January, up 352.1 percent from the down to 6,000 euros in 2021. models in Europe, with another billion euros in two production sites over 6m cars in 2025 same period last year. ZHANG DANDAN / CHINA DAILY China’s largest carmaker SAIC three to four scheduled to hit the in Germany. China FAW Group Corporation, a leading automobile maker in China, plans to sell more than 6 million vehicles in 2025, Do not underestimate our abilities, BMW warns NEV startups growing at an average annual rate of close to 8 percent, the By LI FUSHENG drives the iX3 is convinced, but many corporation said Wednesday. just don’t know. That means one big The company’s operating reve nue is expected to exceed 1 tril Jochen Goller, president and CEO thing is to create the awareness that Everybody has its of BMW Group China, has a formula BMW is an ICE and BEV company lion yuan ($155 billion) in 2025, for success in China: envision cars and that, of course, takes time,” he own advantages. with average annual growth that people want, offer features they added. But to believe BMW between 89 percent. The com are familiar with, and do it quickly. The carmaker is to launch another pany sold 3.7 million vehicles The formula has helped the two other electric vehicles, the iX cannot compete in in 2020, up 7.1 percent from Munichheadquartered carmaker win SUV and the i4 sedan, in China this this new segment 2019. and defend the No 1 position in the year. Around half of its 500plus deal country’s premium vehicle market. ers have been trained to sell electric is clearly a wrong Tesla recall 135,000 It conjured a record year during vehicles. assumption.” sedans and SUVs the pandemicstricken 2020, deliver And BMW is to highlight experien ing more than 777,000 BMW and tial marketing this year, creating Jochen Goller, president and Tesla will recall nearly 135,000 MINIbranded vehicles in China, up more opportunities for potential cus CEO of BMW Group China cars to repair a computer mem 7.4 percent yearonyear. tomers to learn about its vehicles. ory failure that could pose a BMW is trying the formula at the China will prove key to BMW’s safety risk, US regulators said new front of the burgeoning electric NEV ambition. It expects sales of pete in this new segment is clearly a on Tuesday. The electric car car market, where Tesla and Chinese such vehicles to grow 50 percent this Jochen Goller, president and CEO of BMW Group China, stands next wrong assumption,” he said. manufacturer notified the US startup Nio are hogging the limelight. year, from almost 200,000 sold glo to a BMW i4, one of the automaker’s electric vehicles, at the 2020 Goller said the carmaker is com National Highway Traffic Safety Late last year, BMW fired the open bally last year. Beijing auto show. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY petitive in terms of brand awareness Administration of the massive ing salvo with the Chinamade elec BMW is speeding up efforts to and design, which are the top reasons recall over the problem affecting tric iX3 SUV. However, it did not equip its vehicles with more digital of car purchase, according to many the cars’ touchscreen that could become an immediate hit. features that Chinese customers are ing with Chinese tech giants, includ The nouveauriche rivals are help surveys. cause a loss of some features. “BMW is a 100yearold company familiar with. ing Alibaba and Tencent. ing those established carmakers in a Running the complex system of The recall covers the 201218 and did ICE (internal combustion Late last year, it inked a deal with a The carmaker said WeChat will be way, providing convincing examples procurement, production, delivery Model S sedans and the 201618 engine) cars for like 95 years. If you tech company in Nanjing, Jiangsu available in its vehicles from this year. that one key reason of their success is and aftersales will become even more Model X SUVs equipped with a close your eyes and think about BEVs province, to integrate popular Chi “You can clearly see customers’ speed. important as the sales figure grows. NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, Tesla (battery electric vehicles), many don’t nese digital ecosystems into BMWs. requirements about cars are changing, But Goller said he is confident that “Producing and delivering 100,000 said in its notification to think of BMW,” said Goller on Thurs The partnership is scheduled to toward electrification and digitaliza BMW can excel in the long run. vehicles a year is a big difference from NHTSA. day. start operations in the first half of the tion. And the newcomers are meeting “Everybody has its own advanta selling 2 million vehicles, and that is “I tell you one thing, whoever year. BMW has also been collaborat their requirements,” said Goller. ges. But to believe BMW cannot com often underestimated,” said Goller. MOTORINGAGENCIES