After three months of declines, Chinese car sales have rebounded into positive territory in September, up 6,8% to almost 1,7 million locally produced models, with a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized selling Rate (SAAR) at 19 million units, the highest it’s been since last May. As we’ve seen for almost the entire year, the only segment to boost sales is the SUV segment, up 59% to 566.500 units, while the other segments continue to slide, at -11% to 951.500 sales for sedans and -4,1% to 161.300 for MPVs. Year-to-date, just over 13,8 million domestically produced cars have been sold in China, an increase of 5,4%. As the Chinese government has cut the purchase tax on small cars (with engines of 1,6 liters or less) in half, effective from October until the end of next year, car sales in China are set to remain robust for the rest of the year.
EVs and Plug-In Hybrids had an excellent month in September, with EV sales quadrupling to more than 19.000 units and PHEV sales up 230% to 8.800 units, both thanks to tax incentives of (local) governments. In the first three quarters of 2015, combined EV and PHEV sales are up 330% to 87.500 full electric cars and 49.200 plug-ins.
Please note these figures exclude import models, unless specifically noted.
European brands
Especially the German premium brands enjoyed a nice rebound in September with Mercedes-Benz – yet again – closing in on its rivals and Audi losing some of its advantage. Audi remains the largest luxury brand in China, with total sales of 53.095 vehicles, up 2,9%. Audi‘s sales of locally produced models were up 6,3% to 49.672 units. BMW follows with total Chinese sales up 11% to 41.150 units, of which 25.799 locally produced cars. Mercedes-Benz sales in China soared 53% to 38.663 units, while sales of Chinese-built Benzes were up 92% to 24.904 thanks to the addition of the GLA compact crossover. Porsche, which has no production in China, notched up a 24% increase in sales to 5.407 imported vehicles in September, thanks to strong demand for its crossover models Cayenne and Macan. Chinese-owned Volvo seems unable to benefit from the return to form of premium brands, as it reported a 5,7% decline in total sales to 6.957 cars, of which 5.755 locally produced models, its third-highest volume of the year so far. French luxury brand DS is up a whopping 91% on last year, when the DS6 crossover was not yet available. DS also hits its second highest volume of the year, as the DS 5LS sedan also has a reasonable month.
After 3 consecutive months below 200.000 sales, September marked a possible return to growth for Volkswagen, as the troubled brand sees its decline reduced to just 3%, which makes September the best month in terms of year-over-year growth/decline since February. Year-to-date, VW is still down 8,8% on last year. Similarly Skoda, after 5 straight months of increasing declines, has returned into the positive by a mere 1,6% and the brand’s third best volume of the year.
PSA also recovers from a few horrible months, with Peugeot down just 5% on strong 408 sedan volume and Citroën down 9,5% despite each of its vehicles scoring its highest volume since May. On the other hand, Fiat continues to struggle with its 2-vehicle line-up down another 68%.
Japanese brands
Honda continues to be a star performer, even when the overall market was down. With a perfect timing for the launch of its crossover line, Honda has grabbed a significant chunk of market share that Volkswagen has dropped because it lags an entry in the hot-selling small crossover segment. Honda improves another 57% on last September thanks to continued successes for the Vezel and XR-V at 11.721 and 12.821 units respectively, but also with an updated CR-V this month, which doubled its volume year-on-year to 17.712 sales. Nissan also recovers from its losses earlier this year, up 19,7% and scoring its highest volume of the year so far. The Sunny, Sylphy and Teana sedans improve, but the X-Trail SUV and the new generation Murano give the brand a boost as well. Nissan‘s luxury brand Infiniti scores its third-best volume of the year.
Toyota China sales are flat, as the brand’s RAV4 and Highlander crossovers and Prado SUV show nice improvements to offset a slowdown for the Vios and Camry sedans. After a slight dip last month, Mazda is back up 9,3% again, and the brand will be happy to see that most of this growth comes from its latest vehicles with the SkyActive engines: CX-5, Mazda6 Atenza and Mazda3 Axela. Mitsubishi and Suzuki continue their steep losses at -23,8% and 38,1% respectively. In September, Mitsubishi depended on the ASX for 81% of its sales, as none of its other nameplates has sold more than 700 units in a single month so far this year. All of Suzuki‘s carry-over vehicles rack up significant losses, which aren’t offset by the addition of the Alivio sedan this year.
Hyundai-Kia
The South Korean brands recover somewhat from the hits they took in recent months, but they’re not in the black just yet. Hyundai does better than its sister brand, with sales down just 5,4% in September, vs. -23,6% for Kia. This can almost entirely be attributed to crossover sales, with the ix25 selling about 2,5 times as many vehicles as its platform sibling KX3 at 8.382 vs. 3.168, while the ix35 and Tucson combined sell double the volume of the Sportage and Sportage R combined.
US brands
Mixed success at General Motors, with happy faces at its biggest brand (in China) Buick, up 17% and year-best scores for the Envision crossover and the all-new Weilang (Verano) and redesigned Excelle GT sedans, while the Opel Insignia-based Regal had its second-best month of the year. On the other hand, Chevrolet sales dipped more than 20% for the sixth consecutive month, as all of the brand’s nameplates except the Captiva crossover lost volume. GM did go on record to claim that 80% of the company’s volume in China (including local brands Baojun and Wuling) would be eligible for the tax break effective October 1st, so they expect a significant improvement for the last quarter of the year. Cadillac scored its highest volume of locally produced vehicles since March and doubled up year-on-year as the XTS was stable at 2.308 units and the all-new ATS-L boosted the brand thanks to 2.627 sales. Ford sales in China were down 6%, as the Escort sedan had its highest volume since March and the Ecosport small crossover recovered from a few slow months, but the all-new Edge SUV had an off-month in September at 2.622 sales compared to more than 7.000 in each of the last three months.
Chinese brands
Another positive note for General Motors is the continued success story of its local brand Baojun, which almost doubled its volume of last year as the 560 crossover has become the brand’s best selling model in only its third month of sales, without cannibalizing the 730 MPV too much. GM’s other local brand Wuling somewhat recovered from a few forgettable months with sales down “only” 8% as China’s best selling vehicle the Wuling Hongguang topped 50.000 sales for the first time since April again.
Chery
increased its decline yet again, losing 30% of its volume in September as the Arrizo sub-brand doesn’t seem to vibe with Chinese carbuyers despite the addition of two new models this year. The Tiggo 3 and Tiggo 5 crossovers also suffered from increased competition. Denza enjoyed its best month ever and sold more than twice as many EVs as it did in August, but at 252 sales, the Daimler-BYD electric car sub-brand still is a huge disappointment. BYD itself saw flat sales even with the recently launched Plug-In hybrid SUVs Song and Tang starting to gain traction at 3.044 and 1.113 sales respectively.
GAC Trumchi continued to be boosted by the GS4 crossover, which was launched last may and enjoyed record sales of 18.900 units in September, or 86% of total brand sales. Geely improved 18% as the new generation FC Vision sedan sold more than sixfold of last year at 11.240 units and the all-new GC9 midsize sedan had its best month since its launch in March at 4.130 units. Great Wall lost more than half of its volume yet again to just over 6.500 vehicles as the company focuses on the Haval SUV brand, which added a third of volume to just over 52.000 units sold. The Haval H6 was again the best selling SUV in China and #4 overall at more than 30.000 sales.
Lifan on the other hand continues to struggle at -37% despite both of its launches of this year, the 820 flagship sedan and Lotto MPV, reaching their highest volume in September. The drop is due to its crossovers X50 and X60 suffering from the influx of new competitors. Qoros on the other hand reaches a volume record, as the 3 City SUV almost hits 1.000 sales. That’s still a long way from a breakthrough for the brand, which has just revealed the larger Qoros 5 SUV in Milan before showing it at the Guangzhou Auto Show next month. What an SUV can do to boost your brand, Yema can show you, as the T70 now takes over 90% of total brand sales
New models
For new models are added to the Chinese car sales ranking this month, two SUVs and two MPVs, and all four seem to have a promising future in their home country.
Thirteen months after launching the very successful crossover Refine S3, which has been the brand’s best seller all year with over a third of its volume, JAC introduces a smaller crossover Refine S2. At 6.930 sales, the S2 is already at half the volume of the S3 in just its first month, so it’s safe to say it will become the highest volume nameplate for JAC in coming months. The only question remains is: how much will it cannibalize on its larger (and older) sibling. We’ve seen from Brilliance with the V3 and V5 that this can become a serious challenge for a brand looking to boost its overall volume.
Jinbei has introduced its second MPV this month: the 750, which has taken more than just a few design clues from the Baojun 730, on top of the very similar name. In its first month, the 750 racks up 4.810 sales or 84% of total brand sales and therefore helps Jinbei to its monthly volume record by a country mile.
New brand Enranger has started sales of its second model, the 737 MPV. At 1.658 sales, the Yingzhi (as the brand is called in Chinese) 737 was immediately the brand’s best selling model, ahead of the just three months old G3 crossover.
Zotye has started sales of the Damai X5 crossover (known as the T500 when in prototype phase), which had a humble beginning at 1.526 sales, considering the T600 topped 10.000 units this month. Expect the Damai X5 to reach such volume in coming months as well.
Chinese car brand ranking September 2015
——- Excludes imported cars ——-
| # | Model | September 2015 | September 2014 | Change |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 217.872 | 224.811 | -3,1% |
| 2 | Buick | 97.610 | 83.349 | 17,1% |
| 3 | Hyundai | 90.108 | 95.255 | -5,4% |
| 4 | Honda | 89.613 | 56.801 | 57,8% |
| 5 | Toyota | 86.920 | 87.066 | -0,2% |
| 6 | Changan | 77.954 | 69.144 | 12,7% |
| 7 | Nissan | 77.470 | 64.733 | 19,7% |
| 8 | Ford | 64.685 | 69.061 | -6,3% |
| 9 | Chevrolet | 56.693 | 73.908 | -23,3% |
| 10 | Wuling | 55.719 | 60.652 | -8,1% |
| 11 | Haval | 52.081 | 39.032 | 33,4% |
| 12 | Audi | 49.672 | 46.717 | 6,3% |
| 13 | Baojun | 48.059 | 24.898 | 93,0% |
| 14 | Geely | 45.782 | 38.533 | 18,8% |
| 15 | BAIC | 43.824 | 27.059 | 62,0% |
| 16 | Kia | 43.545 | 57.010 | -23,6% |
| 17 | Dongfeng | 37.918 | 38.780 | -2,2% |
| 18 | BYD | 35.971 | 36.218 | -0,7% |
| 19 | Peugeot | 33.379 | 35.137 | -5,0% |
| 20 | Chery | 30.113 | 43.349 | -30,5% |
| 21 | JAC | 29.605 | 16.182 | 83,0% |
| 22 | Citroën | 26.258 | 29.001 | -9,5% |
| 23 | BMW | 25.799 | 23.363 | 10,4% |
| 24 | Mercedes-Benz | 24.904 | 12.956 | 92,2% |
| 25 | Skoda | 23.992 | 23.600 | 1,7% |
| 26 | GAC | 21.867 | 10.361 | 111,1% |
| 27 | Mazda | 20.441 | 18.705 | 9,3% |
| 28 | FAW | 19.083 | 23.487 | -18,8% |
| 29 | Zotye | 14.631 | 14.213 | 2,9% |
| 30 | Haima | 13.769 | 12.874 | 7,0% |
| 31 | Suzuki | 12.683 | 20.500 | -38,1% |
| 32 | Brilliance | 10.332 | 10.269 | 0,6% |
| 33 | Venucia | 9.455 | 9.778 | -3,3% |
| 34 | SAIC Roewe | 8.970 | 8.187 | 9,6% |
| 35 | Lifan | 7.606 | 12.106 | -37,2% |
| 36 | SAIC MG | 7.035 | 3.222 | 118,3% |
| 37 | Great Wall | 6.561 | 14.896 | -56,0% |
| 38 | Soueast | 6.058 | 4.492 | 34,9% |
| 39 | Hawtai | 5.930 | 5.936 | -0,1% |
| 40 | Volvo | 5.755 | 359 | 1503,1% |
| 41 | Jinbei | 5.712 | 1.201 | 375,6% |
| 42 | Leopaard | 5.706 | 1.350 | 322,7% |
| 43 | Luxgen | 5.638 | 6.796 | -17,0% |
| 44 | Landwind | 5.001 | 2.500 | 100,0% |
| 45 | Cadillac | 4.935 | 2.430 | 103,1% |
| 46 | Yema | 4.661 | 1.028 | 353,4% |
| 47 | Karry | 4.005 | 315 | 1171,4% |
| 48 | Mitsubishi | 3.299 | 4.332 | -23,8% |
| 49 | Enranger (Yingzhi) | 2.795 | 0 | New |
| 50 | Infiniti | 2.391 | 0 | New |
| 51 | DS | 2.306 | 1.207 | 91,1% |
| 52 | Fiat | 2.100 | 6.592 | -68,1% |
| 53 | Changhe | 2.018 | 0 | New |
| 54 | Gonow | 1.830 | 3.921 | -53,3% |
| 55 | Jiangling | 1.827 | 1.189 | 53,7% |
| 56 | SAIC Maxus | 1.684 | 470 | 258,3% |
| 57 | Zhongxing ZX Auto | 1.528 | 2.471 | -38,2% |
| 58 | Qoros | 1.400 | 823 | 70,1% |
| 59 | Jiangnan | 1.023 | 1.136 | -9,9% |
| 60 | Huasong | 621 | 0 | New |
| 61 | Foton | 566 | 537 | 5,4% |
| 62 | Jonway | 519 | 583 | -11,0% |
| 63 | Everus | 279 | 60 | 365,0% |
| 64 | Denza | 252 | 0 | New |
| 65 | Huanghai | 231 | 400 | -42,3% |
| 66 | DongfengHonda | 146 | 19 | 668,4% |
Chinese car brand ranking January – September 2015
——- Excludes imported cars ——-
| # | Model | Jan- Sept 2015 | Jan- Sept 2014 | Change |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 1.935.310 | 2.121.910 | -8,8% |
| 2 | Hyundai | 724.742 | 812.399 | -10,8% |
| 3 | Changan | 707.695 | 523.080 | 35,3% |
| 4 | Toyota | 705.531 | 669.518 | 5,4% |
| 5 | Buick | 685.680 | 669.579 | 2,4% |
| 6 | Honda | 645.059 | 489.103 | 31,9% |
| 7 | Ford | 598.773 | 591.455 | 1,2% |
| 8 | Nissan | 579.249 | 608.631 | -4,8% |
| 9 | Wuling | 462.059 | 543.811 | -15,0% |
| 10 | Haval | 449.404 | 274.236 | 63,9% |
| 11 | Chevrolet | 446.765 | 540.690 | -17,4% |
| 12 | Kia | 402.718 | 459.759 | -12,4% |
| 13 | Dongfeng | 365.409 | 300.030 | 21,8% |
| 14 | Audi | 365.339 | 373.431 | -2,2% |
| 15 | Geely | 363.574 | 276.762 | 31,4% |
| 16 | BYD | 312.644 | 297.956 | 4,9% |
| 17 | BAIC | 312.345 | 160.154 | 95,0% |
| 18 | Baojun | 306.071 | 82.410 | 271,4% |
| 19 | Peugeot | 287.496 | 280.905 | 2,3% |
| 20 | Chery | 280.284 | 315.256 | -11,1% |
| 21 | JAC | 236.825 | 123.582 | 91,6% |
| 22 | BMW | 211.620 | 209.989 | 0,8% |
| 23 | Citroën | 207.005 | 237.583 | -12,9% |
| 24 | Skoda | 191.252 | 202.161 | -5,4% |
| 25 | Mercedes-Benz | 178.392 | 99.715 | 78,9% |
| 26 | Mazda | 167.222 | 142.755 | 17,1% |
| 27 | FAW | 158.478 | 192.526 | -17,7% |
| 28 | Suzuki | 133.165 | 188.112 | -29,2% |
| 29 | Zotye | 132.166 | 99.832 | 32,4% |
| 30 | Haima | 114.936 | 123.296 | -6,8% |
| 31 | GAC | 113.009 | 74.671 | 51,3% |
| 32 | Lifan | 105.976 | 103.002 | 2,9% |
| 33 | Brilliance | 100.601 | 104.169 | -3,4% |
| 34 | Venucia | 82.808 | 81.640 | 1,4% |
| 35 | Great Wall | 65.534 | 142.721 | -54,1% |
| 36 | SAIC Roewe | 63.324 | 93.038 | -31,9% |
| 37 | Hawtai | 49.451 | 29.215 | 69,3% |
| 38 | Volvo | 46.790 | 3.494 | 1239,2% |
| 39 | SAIC MG | 46.470 | 39.721 | 17,0% |
| 40 | Mitsubishi | 43.343 | 50.472 | -14,1% |
| 41 | Luxgen | 42.028 | 33.384 | 25,9% |
| 42 | Soueast | 38.787 | 39.646 | -2,2% |
| 43 | Cadillac | 37.841 | 22.675 | 66,9% |
| 44 | Karry | 30.958 | 4.145 | 646,9% |
| 45 | Yema | 26.038 | 9.396 | 177,1% |
| 46 | Leopaard | 24.237 | 14.015 | 72,9% |
| 47 | Fiat | 23.986 | 46.027 | -47,9% |
| 48 | Landwind | 23.819 | 25.129 | -5,2% |
| 49 | Gonow | 22.001 | 31.038 | -29,1% |
| 50 | Infiniti | 17.911 | 0 | New |
| 51 | DS | 16.429 | 14.589 | 12,6% |
| 52 | Jiangling | 14.979 | 20.392 | -26,5% |
| 53 | Zhongxing ZX Auto | 13.527 | 10.670 | 26,8% |
| 54 | Changhe | 13.285 | 304 | 4270,1% |
| 55 | Jinbei | 13.212 | 9.725 | 35,9% |
| 56 | Youngman Lotus | 11.581 | 43.740 | -73,5% |
| 57 | SAIC Maxus | 10.526 | 2.028 | 419,0% |
| 58 | Qoros | 9.411 | 4.310 | 118,4% |
| 59 | Jiangnan | 7.522 | 10.244 | -26,6% |
| 60 | Enranger (Yingzhi) | 5.354 | 0 | New |
| 61 | Jonway | 5.005 | 4.719 | 6,1% |
| 62 | Huanghai | 4.279 | 6.266 | -31,7% |
| 63 | Foton | 4.221 | 5.918 | -28,7% |
| 64 | Everus | 2.743 | 3.676 | -25,4% |
| 65 | DongfengHonda | 1.974 | 9.567 | -79,4% |
| 66 | Denza | 1.116 | 0 | New |
| 67 | Huasong | 749 | 0 | New |
| 68 | Hafei | 19 | 655 | -97,1% |
Chinese car model ranking September 2015
[excel_table fname=”China-auto-sales-2015-September”]
Chinese car model ranking January – September 2015
[excel_table fname=”China-auto-sales-2015-January-September”]