“Whether it’s new energy vehicles or fuel-powered cars, this is the time with the biggest promotional discounts. If you miss this opportunity this year, you might not get subsidies and other benefits next year,” said Han Zhuoxuan, a sales assistant at the BYD booth. The 19th Changchun International Automobile Expo is the first major car exhibition in Mainland China this year with a sales period exceeding ten days. During this event, the Changchun Municipal Government invested 40 million yuan (approximately 4.64 million HKD) in car subsidies, and various districts introduced a total of 24 million yuan (approximately 2.784 million HKD) in special automotive sales subsidies. This helped the exhibition achieve a transaction volume of 6.33 billion yuan (approximately 736 million HKD), significantly boosting car consumption.
The exhibition, which ran from July 15 to July 24, was the first nationwide car exhibition to launch a “cloud auto show.” Over 120,000 people browsed online, and a total of 30,705 vehicles were sold, bringing the transaction volume to 6.33 billion yuan. On-site sales staff told reporters that most participants had a strong demand for purchasing cars, especially with the half-price vehicle purchase tax policy in place. The variety of car models, brands, and market scale was unprecedented, with every sales consultant busy with transactions, which stood in stark contrast to the sluggish car market in the first half of the year.
Honda Buyer: Saved Nearly 20,000 Yuan
Yang Zhen, a sales consultant from Tongli Audi, said, “At the Changchun Auto Expo, consumer enthusiasm for buying cars has clearly increased, and we received a large number of purchase intentions for many of our mid-to-high-end models. This is directly related to the current car subsidies and discount policies.”
At the Changchun Auto Expo, almost all major car manufacturers offered full exemption of vehicle purchase taxes for consumers through subsidies. Some manufacturers also added rural subsidies, free commercial car insurance, interest-free financing, increased trade-in subsidies, and fuel subsidies, providing a variety of purchasing benefits. For example, FAW Hongqi’s H9 trade-in subsidy is up to 30,000 yuan, Volvo’s S60 offers discounts starting from 60,000 yuan, imported Volkswagen Touareg has an official price reduction of 70,000 yuan, and Changan Auto offers up to 16,000 yuan in discounts.
Ms. Zhang, who bought a car, calculated the savings for reporters: “I bought a Honda CR-V hybrid with a transaction price of 242,000 yuan. The vehicle purchase tax was only about 9,000 yuan. In addition, I received a 5,000 yuan government car purchase subsidy and a 3,000 yuan auto consumption voucher from the Green Park District, saving me more than 17,000 yuan (around 19,000 HKD). It’s a very good deal.”
Hongqi Dealer: Sold Over 10 Vehicles in Half a Day
Wang Yibo, one of the dealers at the Hongqi booth, was very satisfied with the sales performance on the first morning. “After a busy morning, we sold more than 10 vehicles, most of the customers were born in the 1980s and 1990s, and two of them were new energy vehicles. I’m very happy with this sales result—what we sold in the morning was equivalent to a full month’s sales for me.”
In recent times, several departments in Mainland China have introduced policies to expand car consumption. These include a policy that halves the vehicle purchase tax for passenger cars with an engine displacement of 2.0 liters or less, priced below 300,000 yuan (excluding VAT), purchased between June 1 and December 31 this year.
Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, pointed out that, according to preliminary statistics from mid-May, the total passenger car sales in China this year will be about 19 million units, a 5% decrease compared to the same period last year. However, with the implementation of the vehicle purchase tax subsidy and other new policies, as well as the joint efforts of the industry, retail sales in Mainland China are expected to reach 21 million units for the year. Therefore, implementing policies is expected to generate a sales increase of around 2 million units compared to not having such policies.”
The National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference also stated, “Since 2021, the resilience of China’s automotive supply chain has been fully demonstrated. In July, retail sales in the passenger car market reached 1.818 million units, a 20.4% increase compared to the same period last year, marking the second-highest growth rate in the past decade.”
Great Wall Securities noted that in August, Shandong will continue with its original new car purchase subsidy policy, while provinces and cities like Guangxi, Guangzhou, and Hefei will gradually introduce a second wave of subsidy policies, which will provide stable support to local car markets. August car sales are expected to increase month-on-month. On July 29, the State Council’s executive meeting clearly confirmed the continuation of the exemption of new energy vehicle purchase taxes, and with the new round of subsidies from local governments, it is expected to effectively stimulate demand for new energy vehicles, ensuring the steady development of the new energy vehicle industry.
