China wholesales July 2020: Preliminary figures show 14.9% surge

A new generation of Haval H6, the country’s #1 SUV, has just launched in China.

Preliminary figures released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) show continued momentum for new vehicle wholesales in China in July: up an estimated 14.9% year-on-year to 2.08 million. Commercial Vehicles are expected to surge 59.6% to yet another record month. Keep in mind wholesales are factory deliveries to dealerships and not customer purchases, and this is where a damper has to be put on this data: for now retail sales, or registrations, the true measure of the Chinese market’s health, are not matching these double-digit gains, with the surplus of cars accruing as stock in dealerships across the country. Year-to-date, wholesales volumes are now down -12.7% to 12.34 million units with Passenger Vehicles (cars, SUVs and MPVs) down -18.6% but Commercial Vehicles up 14.3%. Final figures will be released late next week.

Previous July post: China wholesales 1-20 July 2020: volumes surge 36.5%, confirming post-pandemic momentum

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Previous month: China wholesales June 2020: Trucks (+63.1%), Honda (+25%) break records in strongest ever June volume (+11.6%)

One year ago: China wholesales July 2019: SUVs (+6.4%) enable slimmest market decline so far (-4.3%) despite weak New Energy segment (-4.7%)