वैश्विक लाइट वाहन बाजार फरवरी में लड़खड़ाया

फरवरी के लिए, ग्लोबल लाइट व्हीकल (LV) सेलिंग रेट 2026 की कमजोर शुरुआत पर 86.6 मिलियन यूनिट/वर्ष तक मामूली रूप से सुधर गया। साल-दर-साल (YoY) के संदर्भ में, चीनी यात्री वाहन (PV) बाजार में लगातार दूसरी तेज गिरावट के कारण बाजार में 8.5% YoY की गिरावट आई, क्योंकि बिक्री कुल मिलाकर 6.0 मिलियन यूनिट रही।
पिछले महीने ग्लोबल LV बिक्री में गिरावट के संकेत दिखे क्योंकि चीन और अमेरिका दोनों में बिक्री में उल्लेखनीय गिरावट आई। चीन की तेज गिरावट वैश्विक बिक्री की मात्रा पर एक प्रमुख बोझ बनी हुई है क्योंकि उपभोक्ता कम नीति समर्थन के प्रभाव को महसूस कर रहे हैं, जबकि अमेरिका में, कमजोर EV बिक्री और सामर्थ्य संबंधी चिंताएं LV मांग पर भारी पड़ रही हैं। पश्चिमी यूरोप का फरवरी का कुल आंकड़ा उत्साहजनक था क्योंकि बिक्री जनवरी के कमजोर आंकड़े से उबर गई। आगे देखते हुए, मध्य पूर्व में हालिया घटनाक्रम और ऊर्जा की कीमतों और आपूर्ति श्रृंखलाओं पर इसका प्रभाव इस साल वैश्विक LV बाजार के लिए बिक्री में गंभीर बाधाएं पैदा करता है, जिससे निकट अवधि में दृष्टिकोण नीचे की ओर झुका हुआ है।
North America
US Light Vehicle sales fell by 3.6% YoY in February, to 1.18 mn units. The month contained the same number of selling days as February 2025, enabling a direct comparison. The annualized selling rate accelerated to 15.6 mn units/year in February, from 14.7 mn units/year in January. The market continued to be held back by weak EV sales, while affordability remains a concern. For a second consecutive month, winter weather may have had an impact, with a snowstorm in the Northeast the culprit in February. Average transaction prices reached US$45,876 in February, down by US$327 MoM, but up by 1.8% YoY.
कनाडाई लाइट व्हीकल की बिक्री फरवरी में अनुमानित 119 हजार यूनिट रही, जो पिछले साल की तुलना में 0.4% कम है, जबकि बिक्री दर जनवरी के 2.01 मिलियन यूनिट/वर्ष से घटकर 1.95 मिलियन यूनिट/वर्ष हो गई। जैसा कि हाल के महीनों में आम तौर पर रहा है, खराब मौसम और एक कठिन आर्थिक और व्यापारिक माहौल को देखते हुए बाजार ने उचित रूप से अच्छा प्रदर्शन किया। मैक्सिको में, बिक्री 2.7% YoY बढ़कर 127 हजार यूनिट हो गई। बिक्री दर जनवरी के 1.74 मिलियन यूनिट/वर्ष से घटकर 1.71 मिलियन यूनिट/वर्ष हो गई, लेकिन बाजार अधिक विविध होने के कारण अपने क्षेत्रीय साथियों से बेहतर प्रदर्शन करना जारी रखता है।
Europe
Western European LV market saw a modest improvement in February as sales totaled 986k units, up 1.6% YoY. The monthly selling rate also improved, accelerating to 14.6 mn units/year. YTD sales currently stand at 2.27 mn units, down 2.3% from the same period in 2025. Results across much of Western Europe were positive, although a sharp contraction in France acted as a significant headwind and weighed on overall regional growth. In light of recent developments in Iran, which has disrupted energy markets and could intensify inflationary pressures across the region, we have taken a slightly more cautious outlook for the 2026 Western European PV forecast, expecting sales to remain broadly flat this year.
पूर्वी यूरोप में, LV बिक्री दर 4.75 यूनिट/वर्ष तक धीमी हो गई। रूस का LV बाजार फरवरी 2026 में कमजोर बना रहा, बिक्री में 5.7% YoY की गिरावट के साथ लगभग 74 हजार यूनिट रही, हालांकि मात्रा जनवरी के असामान्य रूप से कम आधार से 2.0% MoM बढ़ी। साल की शुरुआत में वैट वृद्धि और वाहन रीसाइक्लिंग शुल्क में 10-20% की वृद्धि के बाद मांग कमजोर बनी हुई है। तुर्की PV बाजार एक साल में पहली बार गिरा क्योंकि बिक्री 70 हजार यूनिट रही, जो पिछले साल की तुलना में 8.2% कम है। 2025 में 1 मिलियन यूनिट से अधिक की बिक्री के साथ रिकॉर्ड-तोड़ वर्ष के बाद, तुर्की PV बाजार बिक्री में संभावित स्थिरीकरण के संकेत दिखा रहा है।
China
China’s PV sales sank 32.5% YoY to 975k units in February, the lowest PV topline since April 2022, and the third lowest since 2018. YTD, this leaves the opening two months of PV sales down 24.9% YoY. On a selling rate basis, things looked brighter from a monthly perspective, with the metric improving 28.9% MoM to 17.7 mn units/year, though the rate fell 6.3% YoY. Sales in China are facing significantly less policy support in the short term as the NEV tax discounting was reduced at the end of last year, and regionally varied lags in the implementation of the updated trade-in subsidy scheme leave consumers with little reason to rush to buy. We expect the implementation to be integrated into most provinces by the beginning of March.
We remain unchanged on our LV topline this month as we see the full implementation of the updated trade-in subsidy (as of late February) sparking some momentum and easing pull forward retraction as the year progresses (last year's pull forward effect from the NEV change pulled demand from 2026 sales). But there are notable downside risks to the outlook, mainly if the Middle East disruption extends beyond four to six months. Looking further ahead, we see weakness in the market in 2027 and 2028 as the expectations on subsidy support ending in 2026, NEV tax discounting continues to fall off, and prices return to normal.
Other Asia
In Japan, LV sales fell by 3.8% YoY to 390k units in February. The PV market led the weakness with a 6.8% contraction. This leaves the market down 3.2% YoY for 2026 YTD as January shrank by a lesser 2.5%. However, when looking at the average selling rates for this year, the picture worsens with a 4.2% decline. The persistent weakness in Japan has been driven by a weak economic backdrop as well as rising financing costs as the policy rate has risen to a decades-high in recent months.
Korean LV sales fell 6.2% YoY in February after expanding 15.4% in January, with the first month of the year benefitting from an extra working day due to the calendar of the 2026 Lunar New Year holidays. However, February’s raw data retraction is reframed in selling rate terms, as the metric rose to a five-month high of 1.78 mn units/year. The market is forecast to struggle in the next two months however, as global oil prices spike amid the ongoing middle east conflict.
South America
Brazilian Light Vehicle sales totaled 177k units in February, up by 2.0% YoY. The selling rate accelerated to 2.82 mn units/year in February, up from 2.16 mn units/year in January. However, selling rates at this time of year can be distorted by the timing of Carnival, which fell in February this year, having occurred in March in 2025. Given that dealerships are often closed during the holidays, last month’s result appears impressive, as the market continues to benefit from Chinese models and electrification.
In Argentina, sales totaled just under 40.0k units in February, down by 4.9% YoY. The selling rate accelerated to 555k units/year in February, from 489k units/year in January. The Argentinian auto industry is currently in a state of upheaval as there is an ongoing dispute between the government and the organizations that report vehicle sales data. However, the total sales volumes for February are believed to be accurate.
"Global light vehicle market falters in February" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
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