Automotive stocks saw a collective downturn in Hong Kong trading. At the time of writing, GAC GROUP (02238) fell by over 3% to HKD 2.78. GWMOTOR (02333) declined by 2.75% to HKD 11.69, while LI AUTO-W (02015) dropped by 1.07% to HKD 69.4.

Regarding the market backdrop, Guojin Securities noted that several automakers have released their April sales updates. Firstly, domestic sales generally continue to face year-on-year pressure, with mixed month-on-month performance. The bank attributes this primarily to the phase-out of vehicle replacement subsidies, the halving of new energy vehicle purchase tax incentives, and generally moderate market pricing strategies. Additionally, with a concentration of new model launches at the Beijing Auto Show in late April, some consumers remain in a wait-and-see mode. Furthermore, new vehicle deliveries are still ramping up and have not yet contributed significant sales volume.

Secondly, overseas exports continue to show strong performance. Among automakers with larger export volumes, April export sales achieved high year-on-year growth ranging from 57% to 245%. The bank believes this is mainly due to the volume increase from newly introduced models and rapid expansion of overseas sales channels. Concurrently, rising oil prices are accelerating the adoption of new energy vehicles abroad, which benefits exports of Chinese new energy vehicles.