Analysis of the characteristics of the tow truck market from January to May 2024

A tow truck refers to a special vehicle equipped with road rescue equipment, and is an important market segment in the special vehicle industry. The task of a tow truck is to tow the faulty vehicle or accident vehicle away from the scene in a timely manner to ensure that the road is unobstructed. Therefore, a road tow truck is also called a road rescue vehicle.
 
According to the structural type, tow trucks can generally be divided into four series: towing and separation tow trucks, towing and joint tow trucks, flatbed tow trucks, and ordinary types; according to the chassis, there are Sinotruk tow trucks, Foton tow trucks, JAC tow trucks, Isuzu tow trucks, Dongfeng Xiaobawang flatbed tow trucks, Dongfeng Dolica towing tow trucks, Dongfeng flat-head road tow trucks, Iveco tow trucks, etc. According to the towing tonnage, there are 2 tons, 3 tons, 5 tons, 8 tons, 10 tons, 12 tons, 25 tons and other tow trucks.
 
In recent years, with the increase in high-grade roads and cars in use, the tow truck market has also developed and attracted the attention of the industry.
 
According to terminal registration data, a total of 1,589 tow trucks were sold in May 2024. This is a 10% increase from 1,443 in May 2023.
 
From January to May 2024, a total of 7,899 tow trucks were sold, a 14% increase from 6,934 in January to May 2023.
 
According to tonnage, from January to May 2024, the cumulative sales of 4.5-ton blue-plate light tow trucks were 5,996, accounting for nearly 80% (79%), and it is the most "favored" model in the market; followed by 8 tons, and then 12 tons; the sales of tow trucks of other tonnages accounted for a relatively small proportion.
 
According to chassis companies, the cumulative sales of tow trucks equipped with Sinotruk chassis from January to May this year were 2,291, accounting for nearly 30% (29%), ranking first; the second was the tow trucks equipped with JAC chassis, with a cumulative sales of 1,580, accounting for 20% (20%); the third was the tow trucks equipped with Foton chassis, with a cumulative sales of 1,343, accounting for 17%;
 
According to regional flow, the top three provinces in terms of sales volume of tow trucks from January to May this year were Hubei, Hebei and Shanxi.
So, what are the specific characteristics of the tow truck market from January to May 2024? Here is a brief summary and analysis.
 
Feature 1: Sales increased by 14% year-on-year, ranking second in the past 6 years
 
According to public information, the sales of tow trucks from 2019 to 2021 all showed positive year-on-year growth, while sales in 2022 declined relative to 2021, and continued to decline year-on-year in 2023, and increased by 14% year-on-year from January to May 2024.

As can be seen from the above two figures, from January to May 2024, a total of 7,899 tow trucks were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 14%. This is the second year of positive year-on-year growth in the past six years, with a year-on-year growth rate of 14%, ranking second, and the performance is quite good. According to analysis:
 
First, the economy is currently in a period of recovery and growth
 
Although my country's economy is currently recovering, the demand for tow trucks is gradually recovering.
 
Second, the overall demand in the commercial vehicle market is also recovering and growing. As the main emergency guarantee for commercial vehicles, the market demand for tow trucks will naturally increase.
 
Third, the sales base from January to May last year was relatively low (6,934 units), which laid the foundation for the year-on-year growth of the tow truck market from January to May this year.
 
Feature 2: Sales in each month from January to May increased by 4 and decreased by 1 year-on-year, and growth became the main theme
 
Table 1, based on terminal registration data, sales and year-on-year growth of tow trucks in each month from January to May 2024:

The above chart shows that in the sales of tow trucks from January to May this year, there were 4 increases and 1 decrease. Among them, February was the only month with a year-on-year decrease (mainly because the Spring Festival fell in February this year, which delayed the registration and sales of tow trucks). The sales of the remaining months all showed positive growth year-on-year. It can be seen that "growth" has become the main theme of tow trucks in the first five months of this year. The specific reasons have been briefly analyzed above.
 
Feature 3: Light-duty vehicles account for nearly 80%, and 4.5-ton blue-plate vehicles account for more than 70%, occupying an absolute dominant position, and the dominant position has increased year-on-year
 
Table 2, based on terminal registration data, divided by tonnage, sales and proportion of tow trucks from January to May 2024:

As can be seen from the table above, in the sales of tow trucks from January to May 2024:
 
---The cumulative sales of 4.5-ton to 6-ton light vehicles were 6,132 units, accounting for nearly 80% (79%), occupying an absolute dominant position; among them, the sales of 4.5-ton blue-plate tow trucks were 5,945 units, accounting for more than 70% (75.2%), and they were the most "favored" models in the market; and the proportion increased by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, and the main monopoly was strengthened year-on-year;
 
---The cumulative sales of medium-duty trucks were 948 units, accounting for 12%, of which 12-ton models sold 265 units, accounting for 3.36%, and 14-ton models sold 237 units, accounting for 3.0%, ranking first and second in medium-duty truck models respectively;
 
---The cumulative sales of heavy-duty trucks were 719 units, accounting for 9.0%, of which 18-ton heavy-duty trucks sold 499 units, accounting for 6.32%, which was the heavy-duty truck model with the largest sales share.
 
In short, the sales of light tow trucks accounted for nearly 80% from January to May this year, among which 4.5-ton blue-plate tow trucks accounted for the largest proportion (75.2%), which is the best-selling model, and its dominant position has been strengthened.
 
Feature 4: According to the chassis brand, Sinotruk won the championship, JAC and Foton ranked second and third respectively; the TOP5 accounted for more than 80% in total
 
Terminal registration data showed that from January to May 2024, a total of 29 domestic chassis manufacturers participated in the sales of tow trucks. Among them, Sinotruk, JAC and Foton ranked the top three.
 
Table 4, according to public data, divided by chassis brand, the sales and proportion of TOP5 tow trucks from January to May 2024:

As can be seen from the table above, according to the chassis brand, among the tow trucks sold from January to May 2024, Sinotruk ranked first, with a total sales of 2,291 vehicles, accounting for nearly 30% (29%), JAC and Foton ranked second and third, with cumulative sales of 1,580 and 1,343 vehicles, respectively, and market shares of 20% and 18%, respectively; from the year-on-year increase or decrease in proportion, Sinotruk, JAC and Foton increased by 1%, -1% and -1% year-on-year respectively.
 
The fourth is FAW, with a total sales of 948 vehicles and a market share of 12%; the fifth is Dongfeng Motor, accounting for 4.5%, with a total sales of 355 vehicles; the TOP5 accounted for 82.5%; the other 24 companies accounted for 17.5%.
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China Special Vehicle Adivsor