Yang Jian

CATL, China’s largest battery supplier for electric vehicles, estimates 2022 net profit will range from 29.1 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) to 31.5 billion.

The Chinese new-vehicle market contracted sharply in the first 15 days of the month as a severe coronavirus outbreak upended auto production and deliveries. 

Stockpiles at new-vehicle stores across all brands fell to a 32-day supply last month from a 56-day supply in November as shoppers took advantage of tax incentives for gasoline-powered models and subsidies for electrified vehicles, according to the China Automobiles Dealers Association.

Sales of used light vehicles in China declined for the fifth straight month in November, dropped 12 percent to 1.14 million, the China Automobile Dealers Association said this month. 

Honda has become the third global automaker seeking to develop fuel cell vehicles equipped with key technology for China following Toyota and Hyundai.

New-vehicle wholesale shipments industrywide contracted 8.4 percent to 2.56 million in December as China lifted pandemic-triggered lockdowns, sparking a wave of COVID-19 infections that undermined retail activity and production. 

Volkswagen Group delivered more than 3.18 million passenger vehicles in China last year, a drop of 3.6 percent from 2021, enough to remain the country’s top automaker, the German auto giant’s China unit said Thursday. 

Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW -- the three largest luxury brands in China -- saw sales fall in 2022 amid pandemic-triggered lockdowns and ongoing semiconductor chip shortages.

General Motors delivered more than 2.3 million vehicles in China last year, a decline of 21 percent from a year earlier. Even with the sharp decline, China remained GM’s biggest market worldwide.

Geely Automobile Holdings aims to boost its annual sales by 15 percent to 1.65 million in 2023. The company's sales topped 1.43 million in 2022, up 8 percent from 2021. 

SAIC-GM, General Motors’ passenger-vehicle joint venture with SAIC Motor, plans to build the Buick Electra E4 full electric sedan at its Ultium plant in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Honda brand’s China sales skidded 18 percent to 138,152 in December, with year-to-date volume slipping 12 percent to 1.37 million.

SAIC-GM, General Motors’ passenger-vehicle joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., last week opened its second plant dedicated to producing full electric vehicles based on GM’s Ultium platform. 

The new-vehicle market will remain flat in 2023 after government subsidies for electrified vehicles and tax incentives for fuel-powered vehicles were terminated at the end of December, the China Automobile Dealers Association predicted on Wednesday.

Until last year, foreign automakers commanded more combined market share than their domestic rivals in China. But that has changed this year. And noticeably.