After the emission was upgraded, the cost of the four vehicles in the country increased significantly, resulting in LNG commercial vehicles ushering in a good opportunity. Nowadays its sales volume continues to grow, with product types extending from road vehicles to construction vehicles, specialty vehicles, and construction machinery. The momentum of development is even better than 2012, when the heat of LNG vehicles has soared.
Recently, companies such as Sany Heavy Industry, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group and Shaanxi Heavy Duty Truck Co., Ltd. have strengthened their efforts to promote LNG products. The acceptance of LNG commercial vehicles by users all over the world has increased significantly. Tan Xiuqing, vice president of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, believes that the cost factor is the main reason for LNG vehicle prices to be bullish. Users are most concerned about the cost. In the context of the National IV upgrade, they tend to LNG vehicles, and companies will naturally follow suit. In addition, the improvement of the filling station facilities is also the reason for the increase in sales of LNG vehicles.
China's four sales of LNG cars boosted
According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sales of diesel commercial vehicles accounted for 82% of total sales of commercial vehicles in 2011. This figure fell to 76% last year. From January to August this year, the ratio fell to 73%. On the contrary, the sales volume of LNG commercial vehicles continues to grow. What are the reasons that have caused LNG vehicles to be sought after by the market?
According to Tan Xiuqing, in 2012, LNG commercial vehicles were booming in the domestic market. Last year, the sales growth of LNG vehicles declined, mainly because of two aspects: First, the one-time car purchase cost for LNG vehicles is higher than that of diesel vehicles. This is an influence. The main factors for users to buy cars; Second, the facilities for adding LNG are not perfect.
The nationwide implementation of the four countries played down the problem of high cost of LNG vehicles. Take trucks as an example, the price of the national quadruple card is higher than that of the national triple card by about 30,000 yuan; the national four light trucks are also about 20,000 yuan more than the national three light trucks, and the national quadruple trucks still need to be filled with urea, pushing up the trucks. Cost, which reduces the cost advantage of diesel vehicles relative to LNG vehicles. And after January 1st of next year, Beijing will take the lead in implementing the national five emission standards. Other regions are bound to follow suit, and the country will probably implement it fully within two years. At that time, the one-time car purchase cost of LNG commercial vehicles may be comparable to that of diesel vehicles.
Moreover, the fuel cost of LNG vehicles is less than half that of diesel fuel. LNG is also safer and more reliable than diesel, and it can easily achieve higher emission standards. “The inherent advantages of these LNG vehicles have become more noticeable after their cost advantages have emerged.†Tan Xiuqing said.
Gas station facilities gradually improved
As early as 2011, the Ministry of Transport promoted the development of LNG commercial vehicles through energy-saving and emission-reduction demonstrations. In the “Car, Ship, Road, and Harbor†1000-odd enterprise special campaign for low-carbon transportation, the “Promotion of Clean Fuel Vehicles†was the main content. One of them is to encourage operational vehicles to replace fuel with gas, and set special funds for energy conservation and consumption reduction to support natural gas vehicle projects. In 2012, the special funds for transportation energy conservation and emission reduction were mainly to promote the development of LNG vehicles. Among the 33 projects, 30 were LNG applications. Last year, the Ministry of Transport increased the number of pilot cities for the construction of a low-carbon transportation system from the previous 16 to 26, and adopted a “subsidy for compensation†approach to support the development of pilot natural gas vehicles. However, the development of LNG vehicles is still constrained by imperfect filling facilities.
This year, with the promotion and encouragement of policies, gas companies have actively improved filling facilities, and the coverage of LNG gas stations has greatly increased, and users' concerns regarding the purchase of LNG vehicles have decreased.
This year is the second year that the country has implemented natural gas prices in three steps, and a series of good news has come. The signing of the Sino-Russian Natural Gas Agreement, the ventilating operation of the China-Myanmar pipeline, and the commissioning of multiple LNG receiving terminals are expected to increase the supply of domestic LNG, which has laid a good energy foundation for the development of LNG commercial vehicles.
It is understood that the largest four gas companies in China have made progress in the implementation of vehicle LNG refueling. China Gas built 170 refueling stations last year, bringing the total number of refueling stations to 354, and it plans to build a 1,000 gas tanker gas refueling station within three years. Xinao Energy built and operated 9 CNG refueling stations and 28 LNG refueling stations in the first half of this year. It plans to construct 20 CNG refueling stations and 60 LNG refueling stations throughout the year. From the second half of the year to the first half of this year, CR Gas increased its investment in LNG gas stations. As of now, it has 193 CNG refueling stations and 48 LNG refueling stations. In the first half of this year, Hong Kong and China Gas has built a total of eight gas projects.
Car companies insight into the development trend of gas vehicles
Recently, Sany Heavy Industry launched a LNG mixer truck. The LNG mixer truck is an environmentally friendly product that Sany Heavy Industries has pushed this year. After listing, it has attracted industry attention. A related person in the market department of Sany Heavy Industry stated that the recent transaction volume was nearly 300, of which 60 were sold in Shandong and 30 in Anhui.
China National Heavy Duty Truck recently convened a promotion conference for LNG vehicles. Its tycoon LNG trucks were favored by users and continued to be sold in Anhui, Shandong, and Liaoning. China National Heavy Duty Truck's LNG vehicles also entered the engineering vehicle sector. Recently, 20 CNHTC LNGK41 dump trucks were delivered to the Changhe Dam Reservoir.
In addition, FAW Qingdao, Shaanxi Zhongqi and Hualing Xingma have all stepped up marketing efforts on LNG vehicles. Tan Xiuqing believes that LNG commercial vehicles have ushered in the "spring" of development. In this "spring" period, not only will LNG vehicle sales increase, but its product type will gradually cover most of the areas of commercial vehicles. In the long run, the prosperity of this round of LNG vehicles is not a short-term dynamic but represents a long-term trend.