An Analysis of the Sales of New Energy Buses in 1st Quarter, 2014

www.chinabuses.org: According to the latest statistics, the sales volume of new energy buses (including hybrid buses and pure electric buses, etc.) reached 2091 units, up by 10.69% year on year (In the first quarter of 2013, the figure stood at 1889 units). It also accounted for 94.8% of the total sales volume of business vehicles powered by new energy. A closer look at the sales volumes in different months, January and Feburary sold over 750 units. In terms of buses sizes, large- and medium-sized buses are still a vital force in the commercialization of new energy buses, which can be largely attributed to the city buses' good demonstrative effect due to their frequent stops and low speed requirement. New energy buses, mainly bought by departments of governments, are likely to realize industrialization thanks to the current favorable policies.

Table 1 Sales Figure of New Energy Buses in 1st Q. From 2010-2014

Note: non-whole-body vehicles are included

From the table above, it can be clearly seen that:

1. New energy buses have huge market potential. The sales volume went down by 16.9% year on year in the first quarter in 2012, but rebounded by 19% in the same period in 2013 and grew less robustly in 2014.

2. In the first quarter of 2014, the sales volume of light-weight buses witnessed the most dramatic jump. Still due to the small figures, the explosive expansion in this sector still have little effect on the whole industry. The sales volume of large-sized buses boasted the largest sales volume, but failed to see significant increase.

3. The sales volume of medium-sized buses is somewhere in between the large-sized and light-weight buses.