Yutong buses exceed a thousand units, Haige leads the medium-sized bus market, and Jiangling's light buses increase by 51%. Analysis of bus sales in August.

In the first half of 2021, the bus market achieved "6 consecutive increases", but in reality, only the light bus market had this achievement; in the first month of the second half, the bus market will be similar to the first half, with only light buses "increasing alone". Will the light bus market continue to grow in August? Will the medium and large bus market perform better?

In August 2021, the domestic bus (including chassis) market produced and sold 36,100 and 37,400 units, a month-on-month decrease of 16% and 1%, and a year-on-year increase of 3% and 7%, achieving "8 consecutive increases" in both production and sales in 2021. By vehicle type, large, medium, and light buses sold 3,069, 3,814, and 30,500 units in August, accounting for 8.22%, 10.21%, and 81.57% of the bus market share in August, respectively.

Looking at the sales volume and growth trend of the bus market in August over the past five years, it can be seen that the bus market has shown a trend of decrease-decrease-decrease-decrease-increase in August over the past five years. The bus market experienced consecutive declines from 2017 to 2020, and achieved growth in August 2021. In terms of numbers, the bus market sales in August over the past five years only exceeded 40,000 units in 2017, while the sales in the following four years remained in the range of 35,000 to 39,000 units. The performance of 37,400 units in August 2021 is considered a "normal level".

In terms of cumulative sales, from January to August 2021, the bus market sold a total of 332,800 units, marking the first time in five years that the bus market exceeded 300,000 units after August, selling at least 34,500 more units than in previous years. Overall, the bus market performed quite well in the first eight months of 2021.

Sales situation of large buses:

In August 2021, large buses (including chassis) sold 3,069 units, a month-on-month decrease of 1% from July, and a year-on-year decrease of 29%, with the decline expanding by 9 percentage points compared to the previous month (the large bus market saw a year-on-year decrease of 20% in July), experiencing "5 consecutive declines". In August, the top five companies in large bus (including chassis) sales were Yutong Bus, BYD, Xiamen Jinlv, Xiamen Kinglong, and Suzhou Kinglong, with different rankings from the top five in July. The five companies combined sold 2,398 units, accounting for 78.14% of the total sales of large buses (including chassis) in August.

Compared to the previous month, all top five companies in large buses (including chassis) achieved growth, with all five companies performing better in August than in July; compared to the same period in 2020, three of the top five companies increased while two decreased. Among the companies that achieved growth, two had double-digit increases, with the highest increase being Xiamen Jinlv, which saw a year-on-year increase of 148% in August, and Suzhou Kinglong also saw a significant increase of 66%. The other company, Xiamen Kinglong, had a slight year-on-year increase of 2%. The two companies that experienced declines both had double-digit decreases, with the most severe decline being 44%. In August, among the top five companies in large bus sales, Xiamen Jinlv, Xiamen Kinglong, and Suzhou Kinglong all achieved positive growth both month-on-month and year-on-year.

In terms of cumulative sales, the large bus (including chassis) market sold a total of 28,600 units from January to August 2021, a year-on-year cumulative decrease of 8%, with the cumulative decline expanding by 3 percentage points compared to the first six months (-5%). Among the top five companies in August sales, Yutong Bus, Xiamen Jinlv, and Suzhou Kinglong were in the growth range, with the highest increase being Xiamen Jinlv, which saw a year-on-year cumulative sales increase of 45%.

Sales situation of medium buses:

In August 2021, medium buses (including chassis) sold 3,814 units, a month-on-month increase of 29%, and a year-on-year decrease of 13%, with the decline expanding by 10 percentage points compared to the previous month (-3%). Unlike the "5 consecutive declines" in the large bus market, the medium bus market experienced a decline in April, followed by two months of "2 consecutive increases" in May and June, and then a decline again in July, leading to "2 consecutive declines". In August, the top five companies in medium bus (including chassis) sales were Yutong Bus, Suzhou Kinglong, Dongfeng Company, FAW Toyota, and BYD, with the five companies combined selling 3,065 units, accounting for 80.36% of the total sales of medium buses (including chassis) in August.

Compared to July, four of the top five companies in medium buses (including chassis) achieved growth while one experienced a decline; compared to the same period in 2020, two of the top five companies increased while three decreased. Suzhou Kinglong and Dongfeng Company saw year-on-year increases of 359% and 5%, respectively, while Yutong Bus ranked first with sales of 1,747 medium buses in August, being the only company to sell over 1,000 units. Among the top five companies in medium bus (including chassis) sales in August, Suzhou Kinglong and Dongfeng Company achieved positive growth both month-on-month and year-on-year, while FAW Toyota experienced declines in both metrics.

In terms of cumulative sales, from January to August 2021, the medium bus (including chassis) market sold a total of 27,200 units, a year-on-year cumulative increase of 7%, with the cumulative growth narrowing by 9 percentage points compared to the first seven months (+16%). Among the top five companies in August sales, Yutong Bus, Suzhou Kinglong, Dongfeng Company, and FAW Toyota were all in the growth range, with all four companies achieving double-digit cumulative sales growth, the highest being Suzhou Kinglong with a cumulative increase of 93%, nearly doubling. Yutong Bus, ranked first, had cumulative sales exceeding 10,000 units, reaching 10,900 units, a year-on-year increase of 17%.

Sales situation of light buses:

In August 2021, light buses (including chassis) sold 30,500 units, a month-on-month decrease of 4%, and a year-on-year increase of 16%, with the growth narrowing by 8 percentage points compared to the previous month (July's year-on-year growth was 24%). The light bus market has achieved "8 consecutive increases" in 2021, and if the growth from 2020 is included, the light bus market's consecutive increase has reached "12 consecutive increases". It can be said that the overall bus market continued to grow in August, almost solely relying on the light bus market.

In August, the top five companies in light bus (including chassis) sales were Jiangling Motors, SAIC Maxus, Chongqing Changan, Foton Motor, and Nanjing Iveco, with the industry rankings remaining consistent with July. The five companies combined sold 24,300 units, accounting for 79.67% of the total sales of light buses (including chassis) in August.

Compared to the previous month, among the top five companies, one increased while four decreased, with Jiangling Motors' sales in August being higher than in July; compared to the same period in 2020, three of the top five companies increased while two decreased. The three companies that achieved growth all had double-digit increases, with Jiangling Motors, ranked first in monthly sales, achieving a 51% increase; SAIC Maxus, ranked second, also saw a year-on-year increase of 35%, and Chongqing Changan's sales increased by 28% year-on-year. In August, among the top five companies in light bus sales, Jiangling Motors achieved positive growth both month-on-month and year-on-year, while Foton Motor and Nanjing Iveco experienced declines in both metrics.

From the perspective of cumulative sales, the light passenger vehicle (including chassis) market sold a total of 277,000 units from January to August 2021, a year-on-year cumulative growth of 42%. The cumulative growth rate narrowed by 3 percentage points compared to the previous six months (+45%). In August, all five leading companies in the light passenger vehicle market (which are also among the top ten in cumulative sales) were in the growth range, with growth rates reaching double digits. The highest cumulative sales were still from SAIC Maxus, reaching 66%. Both Chongqing Changan and Nanjing Iveco saw their cumulative sales growth exceed 40%, reaching 57% and 42% respectively. The leading company, Jiangling Motors, had a cumulative sales growth of 38% from January to August, selling 18,900 more units than the same period last year.

In the first eight months of 2021, the bus market achieved a rare "8 consecutive increases", but this "consecutive increase" was mainly due to the good performance of the light passenger vehicle market. The medium bus market saw a decline in four of the first eight months of this year, while the large bus market only experienced growth in February and March. Will the good performance of the light passenger vehicle market continue? Will there be any months of overall growth in the bus market? Please pay attention to our subsequent reports.