The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to data from the China Bus Statistics Information Network, in the first quarter of 2024, China exported a total of 1,1906 large, medium, and light buses. Compared with the export volume of 7,493 vehicles in the same period last year, a significant increase of 58.89% was achieved. In terms of months, bus exports in the first quarter were not only higher every month compared to the same period last year, but also showed an increasing trend from month to month. Among them, in January, bus exports were 3502, up 52% year on year; in February, bus exports were 3,702 units, up 258.72% year on year; in March, bus exports were 4,702 vehicles, up 13.11% year on year.

First quarter: All large, medium and light passenger lines increased, and medium passenger lines surged 154%

Looking at the product structure, from January to March 2024, China exported a total of 7,173 large buses, up 57.37% year on year; 2,073 medium buses were exported, up 153.73% year on year; and 2,660 light buses were exported, up 25.59% year on year. All three types of buses still achieved positive growth. Large buses were the main export force, accounting for 60.25%; followed by light buses, accounting for 22.34%; medium-sized buses exported nearly 600 fewer units than light buses, accounting for 17.41%. Looking at the growth rate, exports of large buses led the way last year, and medium-sized buses led the way in the first quarter of this year, but in terms of export volume, large buses are still the highest, and their market share has further increased (more than 60%).

According to functional classification, buses are divided into seat buses, bus buses, school buses, and other buses. From January to March 2024, out of a total of 1,1906 buses exported by China, the export volume of seated buses was 7024, up 65.7% year on year; the export volume of buses was 4,582, up 53.19% year on year; the export volume of school buses was 206, up 123.91% year on year; the export volume of other buses was 94, down 45.03% year on year.

As can be seen from the table below, among the six market segments of seated buses and buses, the export volume of large buses is still leading, followed by large-seat buses, with sales of both around 3,500 units, with large seat buses increasing even more sharply; the third highest export volume was light seat buses, which reached 2,471 units; fourth, medium-sized passenger buses, with an export volume of 1,114 vehicles, a sharp increase of 204.37% over the same period last year; while the combined export volume of medium buses and light buses was less than 1,000 units, due to a lower base of increase over the same period last year. The frames are also very eye-catching, at 86.85% and respectively 77.05%

Exports of seated passenger cars and bus segments from January to March 2024 (unit)

Total ranking: Yutong and Zhongtong lead Jingma to the top five, and Ankai soared 13 times

From an enterprise perspective, bus export rankings from January to March 2024 showed a different landscape compared to the end of 2023. Yutong Bus (600066.SH) still won the championship, with exports reaching 2,598 vehicles in January-March, up 92.02% year on year; Zhongtong Bus (000957.SZ) jumped second, with export volume of 1,718 vehicles, surging 110.8% year on year; Xiamen Golden Travel and Xiamen Jinlong ranked third and fourth respectively, with export volume rising to 1,374 vehicles and 1,360 vehicles in that order; Jiangling Jingma jumped fifth, with export volume surging 560.53% year on year; the sixth and tenth companies ranked Asia Star in that order Bus (600213. SH), Suzhou Jinlong Haig, Ankai Bus (000868.SZ), BYD (002594.SZ), and Foton Ouhui, have clearly risen in Asia Star rankings, and the export volume of Ankai buses has skyrocketed nearly 13 times.

Seated buses: Jinlong returns to the top of the list. Who are the champions in the big, medium, and light market segments?

In the bus export market from January to March 2024, 7024 seater buses were sold, an increase of 65.7% over the previous year. Among them, 3,439 large-seat buses were exported, up 73.6% year on year; 1,114 medium seat buses were exported, up 204.37% year on year; and 2,471 light-seat buses were exported, up 30.6% year on year. The three major segments of seat buses grew across the board. In terms of export volume, large seat buses were the highest; in terms of year-on-year growth, medium seat buses were the highest.

From an enterprise perspective, from January to March 2024, the top ten seater bus exporters were Xiamen Jinlong, Xiamen Golden Travel, Zhongtong Bus, Jiangling Jingma, Yutong Bus, Haige Bus, Asia Star Bus, Ankai Bus, Foton Ouhui, and Shanghai Shenlong in that order. Xiamen Jinlong returned to the top of the list, and Yutong Bus only got the fifth ranking; the top four exports all broke 1,000, which meant that competition in this market was very intense; Zhongtong Bus, Jiangling Jingma, Yaxing Bus, Ankai Bus, Futian Ouhui, and Shanghai Shenlong all had a year-on-year increase of more than 100%; at the same time, we also saw that the overall bus export volume of Zhongtong Bus and Jiangling Jingma entered the top five, with seat buses “contributed greatly”. car.

Among them, in the field of large-seat buses, exports are concentrated in 9 companies, namely Zhongtong Bus (905 vehicles), Yutong Bus (781 vehicles), Asian Star Bus (472 vehicles), Xiamen Golden Travel (399 vehicles), Haige Bus (314 vehicles), Xiamen Jinlong (255 vehicles), Foton Ouhui (210 vehicles), Ankai Bus (86 vehicles), and Shanghai Shenlong (17 vehicles). Zhongtong Bus jumped to the top of the list, with exports in this segment soaring 169.35%; Asian Star Bus ranked third, with exports in this segment soaring 997.67%; Foton Ouhui and Ankai Bus's export volume growth in this segment was also unusually impressive, at 813.04% and 1128.57%, respectively.

In the medium seat bus sector, exports from January to March 2024 were concentrated among 13 companies. Among them, the top ten companies were Ankai Bus (239 vehicles), Yutong Bus (200 vehicles), Jiangling Jingma (170 vehicles), Suzhou Jinlong (117 vehicles), Zhongtong Bus (111 vehicles), Shanghai Shenlong (101 vehicles), Xiamen Jinlong (83 vehicles), Xiamen Jinlong (50 vehicles), and Asian Star Bus (24 vehicles). In this market segment, the winning company was Ankai Bus, with a year-on-year increase of 986.36%; Jiangling Jingma's export volume of 170 vehicles was a net increase.

In the light seat bus sector, exports are concentrated in 8 companies, namely Jiangling Jingma (830 vehicles), Xiamen Jinlong (784 vehicles), Xiamen Golden Travel (578 vehicles), Haige Bus (146 vehicles), Ankai Bus (114 vehicles), Foton Ouhui (8 vehicles), Weichai Yaxing New Energy (7 vehicles), and Yaxing Bus (4 vehicles). In this market segment, the winning company, Jiangling Jingma, had a year-on-year increase of 453.33%; the export volume of Ankai Bus's 114 vehicles was a net increase; although Xiamen Jinlong temporarily lost the championship, the export volume achieved a positive increase of 26.25%, which is also very rare. After all, the export volume of many companies in this segment has declined.

Does it feel like the market pattern is being washed again? The export champions for large, medium, and light-seat buses all seem to have been “unexpected”. This also means that the bus export market has a lot of room to be developed, and the market pattern will be further reshaped. According to the company's official announcement, on February 21 this year, Zhongtong Bus held a delivery ceremony for 1,022 vehicles exported to Saudi Arabia; Ankai Bus exported a batch of buses each on January 15 and February 17, respectively, and the export locations were the Dominican and Saudi markets respectively. On the export side, Tan Xuguang put forward a request for Zhongtong Bus. Zhongtong Bus should fully benchmark against Yutong, learn from Yutong, pay close attention to exports and not relax, target restorative growth opportunities in the brigade car market, accelerate the transformation from low value-added products to high-value-added products, and use reforms to generate endogenous motivation.

Buses: Yutong surged 157%, and Ou Hui won the mid-size bus sales crown, and CRRC achieved a new breakthrough

From January to March 2024, China's bus export volume was 4,582 vehicles, an increase of 53.19% over the previous year. Looking at the three segments of large, medium, and light buses, bus exports are mainly concentrated in the large car market, with large vehicles accounting for nearly 80%. The total export volume of medium buses and light buses is less than 1,000, but the year-on-year increase is higher than the overall bus export market.

From an enterprise perspective, from January to March 2024, 14 companies exported in the bus sector. The top ten companies are Yutong Bus, Zhongtong Bus, BYD, Foton Ou Hui, Xiamen Golden Travel, Xiamen Jinlong, Haige Bus, Asia Star Bus, Ankai Bus, and CRRC in that order. Yutong Bus has a strong lead in this market segment with a share of nearly 35%; Zhongtong Bus, which ranks third in the seat bus sector, has achieved good results; BYD is in third place, with a share of more than 11%; Foton Ouhui and Xiamen Golden Travel respectively took fourth and fifth place with sales of more than 300 vehicles; the top ten companies, with the exception of Xiamen Jinlong, all achieved significant growth. Among them, the export volume of Haig buses reached a breakthrough of 200 vehicles, with a year-on-year increase of 50.36%. It's all a net increase.

Among them, in the field of large buses, 13 companies achieved exports, with Yutong Bus (1,569), Zhongtong Bus (689), BYD (340), Xiamen Jinlong (230), Yaxing Bus (184), Ankai (168), Hagrid (151), Xiamen Golden Travel (138), and CRRC (66). Large vehicles account for the largest share, and large proportions of bus exports from various companies also occur in large cars. Of the 13 companies that achieved exports, only 2 experienced a decline in this market segment. Furthermore, Xiaobian noticed that compared to the same period last year, 5 companies achieved a breakthrough of 0, namely CRRC Electric, Gree Titanium New Energy, Remote New Energy Vehicles, and Skyworth Motor. The export volume was 66, 33, 20, 6, and 2 vehicles in that order.

In the field of medium-sized buses, 13 companies achieved exports. The top ten companies were Foton Ou Hui (310), Xiamen Golden Travel (208), BYD (106), Skyworth (51), Yutong Bus (32), Hagrid (31), CRRC (20), Shanghai Sunwin (20), Asia Star Bus (19), and Zhongtong Bus (13). The winning company was Futian Ouhui. Exports in this segment surged 192.45% year on year in January-March; Xiamen Gold Travel ranked second, with only 6 vehicles in the same period last year, soaring to 208 vehicles in January-March this year, surging 3366.67% year on year; BYD ranked third, which also achieved positive growth of 15.22% year on year. Other companies exported the highest volume of 51 vehicles. Although not many, Skyworth Auto, CRRC, Shanghai Sunwin, Ankai Bus, and Gree Titanium New Energy all had zero exports in the same period last year, and they all achieved significant breakthroughs in this field this year. The medium-sized bus “cake” is very small, but there is plenty of room for development. It can be a breakthrough for companies that want to seek opportunities in overseas markets.

Closing remarks

Judging from the data for the first quarter of this year, with the recovery of the economy in the post-pandemic era, logistics, tourism, and public travel have recovered in the global sector, showing a good growth trend in China's bus exports. Various companies are seizing market opportunities, showing ingenuity, speeding up the pace of buses going overseas, and bringing a new atmosphere to the market segmentation pattern. Industry insiders said that in the long run, the domestic car market is slowing down and competition is intensifying, and companies are moving in the right direction, but overseas sales should be assessed by their ability to grasp the market rather than simply by export volume.