The Zhitong Finance App learned that on June 27, the China Passenger Federation branch published an article stating that due to insufficient production by international car companies and large supply and demand conflicts, the relationship between China and European countries has maintained a good relationship. Demand for Chinese automobiles in overseas markets has surged, driving China's pickup truck exports to continue to grow since 2022. Exports from January to May 2024 still showed the same strong growth trend. Among them, Great Wall Motor, SAIC Chase, and JAC had excellent export performance.

The pickup truck market sold 45,000 vehicles in May 2024, down 1% year on year and up 2% month on month. It is at a medium to high level in the past 5 years. Since the Pickup base was relatively high in May last year, this year's growth rate was relatively good. Pickup sales in January-May of this year were 218,000 units, achieving a 4% year-on-year increase. The overall performance was good.

In May of this year, 42,000 pickup trucks were produced, down 4% year on year. Pickup truck sales remained flat year on year. In May, pickup truck exports accounted for 45% of sales, making it the strongest share of commercial vehicle exports. China's pickup truck production and sales have been relatively stable in the past two years, relying on export contributions. The performance of the domestic pickup truck market is relatively stable. In particular, the share of sales in the county and rural markets increased relatively well compared to last year, effectively offsetting the contraction of pickup trucks in major cities.

Compared to the boom in exports, domestic sales of pickup truck manufacturers were weak year-on-year in May, mainly due to the high internal and high base of the revival of the industry last spring. Great Wall Motor continues to be a strong leader in pickup trucks, and has performed well at home and abroad. Great Wall Motors, Jiangling Motors, Zhengzhou Nissan, and Jiangxi Isuzu continued to perform well in the domestic pickup market. The pickup truck export market has had great opportunities in the past two years. Some pickup truck companies have taken advantage of export opportunities to achieve strong growth. SAIC Chase, Great Wall Motor, JAC, and Changan Automobile have exported a huge scale, accounting for more than 40% of the total volume of some manufacturers. The trend of pickup trucks from traditional major manufacturers in the domestic retail market is still relatively stable. The pattern of the domestic pickup truck market is relatively stable. Great Wall Motor, Jiangling Motors, Zhengzhou Nissan, and Jiangxi Isuzu's top three pickup truck pattern continues to be stable. The domestic electric pickup truck market is gradually being launched, and electric pickup trucks such as Geely Radar are gradually cultivating the market. In the future, it is expected that more new energy pickup products will meet domestic and foreign demand.

I. Overall analysis of the pickup truck market

1. Comparison of trends in the national pickup truck market in May

The pickup truck market sold 45,000 vehicles in May 2024, down 1% year on year and up 2% month on month. It is at a medium to high level in the past 5 years. Since the pickup base was relatively high in May last year, this year's growth rate was relatively good, which is quite good.

Pickup sales in January-May of this year were 218,000 units, achieving a 4% year-on-year increase. The overall performance was good.

In 2018, the sales volume of pickup trucks was 450,000 units, up 10%; in 2019, the cumulative sales volume of pickup trucks was 440,000 units, down 3% year on year; in 2020, the year-on-year increase of 9% was strong; in 2021, the sales volume of pickup trucks was 550,000, up 14% year on year, reaching a recent peak.

The overall pickup truck trend in 2022 was relatively stable, reaching 513,000 units, down 6% from 2021. Overall pickup truck sales in 2023 were 513,000, down 0.1% year on year. The trend of pickup trucks is relatively stable. Based on the trend of the past two years, the trend of pickup trucks is still relatively good compared to light trucks, etc.

2. Monthly trends in the pickup truck market over the years

In 2024, the pickup truck wholesale market trend was quite strong. The January start was strong, the March sprint high was relatively moderate, and the 45,000 trend in May was strong. 2023 is earlier than the Spring Festival in previous years, so it continues to be high in February-May. This year's April-May pickup truck trend performed better after the Spring Festival due to the late Spring Festival.

Pickups are a means of production model. Pickup trucks are generally purchased relatively few before the Spring Festival. Pickup sales in March-December after the Spring Festival enter peak season, which is also a growing demand point for real estate, engineering projects, and unit purchases.

The pickup truck market also directly reflects the development of small private owners. The pickup truck market represented by Great Wall Motor has become a pioneer in the recovery of the automobile market after the epidemic. Due to the rapid activity of the overseas pickup truck export market, the pickup truck market is becoming increasingly complex.

With the trendy culture of middle-aged people, the space for self-driving and country trips has increased, and more people choose pickup trucks to play.

3. Strong export performance of pickup trucks

Pickup truck exports reached 22,000 units in May 2024, and the month-on-month and cumulative year-on-year performance was good. Companies such as Great Wall Motor, SAIC Chase, Changan Automobile, JAC, and Beiqi Foton have excellent export performance. However, the recent slowdown in commercial vehicle export growth is a relatively obvious common characteristic.

The national pickup truck market exported a total of 132,000 pickup trucks in 2023, a growth rate of 4%. This year, the overall pickup truck industry, represented by Great Wall Motor, exported 22,000 pickups in May 2024, and the industry's share of exports continued to be high. In 2023, pickup truck exports accounted for 26% of total pickup truck sales, reaching 45% in May 2024, an increase of 19 percentage points over 2023. China's independent pickup truck exports increased quite well.

II. Characteristics of the sales area in the pickup truck market

1. Regional changes in the pickup truck market

The main regions of the pickup truck market are mainly in the northwest and southwest, and there is a high demand for pickups in the western region. Demand for pickups in the northwest region was strong in May. At present, demand for pickups in the southwest and northwest regions accounts for about 43% of total demand, making them the two major core markets. Among them, the southwest market is quite large this year.

The western market has maintained a relatively stable trend recently, and the eastern region has declined. Although the economy is active, there has been no significant growth in the pickup truck market in East China and South China.

Pickup still has a relatively strong performance in the northern and central western markets. This is also because the market economy in the North and Midwest is relatively inactive, mainly driven by investment and engineering construction.

The development of private passenger pickup trucks needs to be further strengthened. Pickup sales in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai have recovered to a certain extent this year, and the recent Great Wall Motor passenger pickup trucks are worth looking forward to.

2. Pickup truck sales area analysis

The main sales area of the pickup truck market is still mainly in small and medium-sized cities and county and township markets, but the performance of the county and township markets before the Spring Festival is still relatively weak. Purchase-restricted markets such as medium-sized cities and Beijing performed well in May 2024. However, the county and rural markets continue to be stable, and the big city market currently has no obvious breakthrough characteristics.

The megacities market is gradually shrinking after the outbreak, while in the limited-purchase city market, the Beijing market has performed well for pickups due to tight license plates. The performance of markets such as Shenzhen and Tianjin, which were relatively strong in the early period, is in a state of weakness. Chongqing and Chengdu performed relatively well. Hangzhou is a large market with a geographical area larger than Beijing, and its tea farmers' market is in good demand for pickups.

III. Competitive analysis of China's pickup truck market

1. Performance analysis of pickup truck manufacturers

The main manufacturers in the pickup truck market performed well in 2024. Great Wall Motor pickups maintained a strong position of absolute advantage. Changan Motor performed well in the foreign export market in May, SAIC Chase and JAC had strong trends in May, and Jiangling Motors and Zhengzhou Nissan maintained a strong domestic dominant position.

With the surge in the pickup truck export market, SAIC Chase, JAC, and Changan pickup trucks have risen rapidly, forming the characteristic that leading companies are squeezing the sales volume of tail companies.

Recently, strong pickup truck manufacturers from large traditional groups have been very strong. In particular, SAIC Chase and others have shown outstanding export performance. Great Wall Motor's pickups have performed very well at home and abroad, and they are very active in launching new products. Jiangling pickup trucks are recovering fast. Compared to the new forces, SAIC Chase and Changan Auto pickups performed better.

2. Domestic share trends of pickup truck manufacturers

In 2023, the domestic pickup truck retail market still maintained the trend characteristics of over 1, but gradually began to show a trend of differentiation. Great Wall Motor's pickup truck sales are outstanding.

In May of this year, Great Wall Motor led the domestic sales share of pickup trucks by 50%. Jiangling Motors, Zhengzhou Nissan, Jiangxi Isuzu, etc. maintained a strong position. The competitive pattern in the domestic market is relatively stable. Recently, many manufacturers have had strong export performance, so the overall performance of the pickup truck market is strong.

3. Export trends of pickup truck manufacturers

Great Wall Motor's pickup truck exports are still number one over the years, but SAIC Chase and Changan have performed well in pickup truck exports. SAIC Motor's export base is good and its own export system is strong, so SAIC Chase's export growth is strong.

Recently, the growth rate of exports such as pickups has slowed, and export growth is being greatly affected by improved overseas supply and weakening demand.

4. Monthly sales trends in the pickup truck market

The main pickup cities in the country are currently in the southwest, northeast, and northwest regions such as Urumqi, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shijiazhuang, and Harbin. The demand in big cities has a certain scale. Demand for pickups is also strong in major mining and specialty planting regions such as Ordos, Yili, and Hulunbuir.

5. Monthly regional trend of pickup trucks

Since 2020, along with the national six upgrade, the pace of pickup truck product updates and iterations has accelerated. This year, pickup trucks have entered a period of market adjustment. According to pickup truck market tracking, Great Wall Motor has an absolute dominant position of nearly 50% in the country, and Great Wall Motor has an outstanding share in the northwest and southwest regions.

The total share of the top 3 pickup trucks reached 85%. Among them, Jiangling Motors performed well in the southwest and Yangtze River basins; Zhengzhou Nissan performed well in the northwest and southwest regions; and Jiangxi Isuzu performed well in the southwest and northwest regions.

In 2024, the increase will mainly come from the Southwest region and North China market. The increase is mainly in the original fields of engineering construction, municipal electricity, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing, wholesale and retail industries, as well as new customers such as high-end, passenger, and off-road vehicles.

As the aging of China intensifies, the aging trend of migrant workers is obvious, and there is a clear trend of migrant workers returning to their hometowns, driving the recovery of small cities, county and rural markets. The main models of traditional mainstream car companies have performed very well. Great Wall Motor's product innovation results are very good, and new products such as the King Kong Cannon have outstanding performance.