Recently, BAIC (1958.HK) published its sales figures for March 2016, according to which, the total sales of both its proprietary brands and joint venture brands, i.e. Beijing Benz and Beijing Hyundai, amounted to 160,700+, maintaining a steady growth. In march, BAIC's proprietary brands and its Beijing Benz reported significant growth, especially its proprietary SUVs and new energy vehicles, indicating preliminary success of its E (New energy) + S (SUV) Initiative, as a result, its proprietary brands has become, following Beijing Benz, another strong contributor to its sales growth.
Proprietary Brands: E+S Initiative to make a breakthrough in the market
As noted from the sales figures for March 2016, the big four of BAIC's proprietary brands, i.e. BAIC Senova, Beijing Brand, New energy vehicles and BAIC Wevan reported a total sale of 36,972. To go deeper by model, the growth of E+S vehicles was most stunning, among which, SUVs reported an astonishing growth of 555.96%, with BAIC Senova X25 selling 10,126, earning itself a slot in the Ten-Thousand Club of SUV, and its fellow model BAIC Senova X55 following closely with a sale of 5,000+. It is noted that BAIC Senova will launch X35 in May, which will compete side-by-side with the twin stars Senova X25 and Senova X55 in the SUV market, and together take BAIC's proprietary brands to a new height. BAIC's new energy vehicles sold 2,645 in March, representing a year-on-year increase of 65.11%. The EV series electric-powered vehicles developed on the basis of Senova D20 rendered beautiful sales results, beating the runner-up by nearly 1,000 and securing the first place for 3 consecutive years.
With the implementation of the E+S Initiative for its proprietary brands, the matrix of BAIC's new energy vehicles and SUVs are constantly optimized and the synergy will soon be seen. Its proprietary brands are expected to be another powerful engine for the growth of BAIC products in 2016.
Joint venture brands: Beijing Benz maintaining strong growth with Beijing Hyundai back to the spot light
As seen from the published figures, BAIC's joint venture brands maintained the tendency of February. Beijing Benz sold a total of 23,252, representing a year-on-year increase of 33.81%, and securing a rapid growth in the luxury vehicle sector, among which, Benz C-class sold 8,463 in March, representing a year-on-year growth of 19.42%. The GLA and GLC SUVs together sold 10,287 in March, maintaining their brilliant performance, heading towards the first place in China's luxury vehicle sector.
The other joint venture brand of BAIC, Beijing Hyundai, sold 100,549 vehicles in March, representing a year-on-year decrease of 1.95%, which has improved significantly as compared with the last two months. With the launch of Elantra, Beijing Hyundai again stirred the market with a first-month sale of 10,880, representing a significant rebound. Beijing Hyundai is rolling out a new pattern in accordance with market competition landscape and accelerating product upgrade and replacement while ensuring stable supply of SUVs. As a result, Beijing Hyundai is expected to get out of the plight soon and get all ready for the "Post-million" Era.
Based on the above data, BAIC's overall performance in March was satisfactory, with its "E+S" initiative starting to gain preliminary advantages. It is reported that before or after the 2016 Beijing Auto Show, BAIC's new SUV models, i.e. SenovaX35, BJ40L and BJ80, will appear in the market. New energy vehicles such as its first pure electric SUV EX200 as well as the middle-class commercial electric vehicle D80EV will also be put on the market in 2016. In addition, Beijing Benz's whole new E-class sedan will also debut at the Beijing Auto Show. It can be expected that the launch of this series of new vehicles will make new headlines of BAIC's performance, helping BAIC secure its position in China's auto market, and give the investors more hope and confidence in the capital market.
End of Press Release