China 8 months 2012: Hyundai Verna best performer in Top 10

The Hyundai Verna is the biggest gainer in the Chinese Top 10

* See the Top 283 All-models Ranking by clicking on the title! *

After the USA, we are now focusing on the year-to-date models ranking in the biggest car market in the world, China. With August sales up 8% to 1,495,200 new vehicles, the Chinese new car market is up 4% year-on-year over the first 8 months of 2012 to 12.5 million units. The Top 4 best-sellers year-to-date have now been stable for a few months: the Buick Excelle excels at +17% to 191,259 units, while the Chevrolet Sail explodes, up 8 spots and 62% to 185,315 sales, ahead of the VW Jetta (+10%) and Chevrolet Cruze (+12%). Thanks to a market-leading performance in August, the 5th best-selling car in China is the Ford Focus, up 23% on 2011 to 153,929 units.

VW Magotan

This means the VW Passat (US version) is now #6 but still up a giant 49% year-on-year. Another difference with last month is that among the Top 10 best-sellers, the Hyundai Verna is now the best performing model, up a massive 67% to #10 and 134,988 sales. Outside the Top 10, notice the VW Tiguan up 43% to #11, the Nissan Tiida up 89% to #13, the Buick Excelle XT/GT up 28% to #15, the VW Sagitar up 31% to #17 and the VW Magotan (European Passat) up 117% to #18.

Chery Tiggo

Sales of Chinese cars in China are not improving much. While at the same time last year there were 2 in the Top 7, now there is only one in the Top 20: the FAW Xiali N3/N5 down 21% to #20. Consolation: there are 7 Chinese models in the Top 40, the same amount as last year. The BYD F3 is down 33% to #25, the Chery QQ down 11% to #26, the Great Wall Voleex C30 down 12% to #28, the Great Wall Haval H3/H5 up 1% to #29, the Emgrand EC7 up 30% to #32 and the Chery Tiggo up 8% to #40.

DongFeng Fengshan H30

Further big gainers within the Top 100 include the Hyundai Sonata up 117% to #44, the BMW 5 Series L up 41% to #45, the Audi Q5 up 71% to #48, the BYD S6 up 254% to #50, the Dongfeng Future up 194% to #61, the BYD L3 up 174% to #64, the Baojun 630 up 4859% to #66 (August 2011 was its 1st month of sales), the Chevrolet Aveo up 205% to #75, the Dongfeng Fengshan H30/S30 up 77% to #82, the Kia K5 up 78% to #87 and the Honda Fit up 116% to #98.

Great Wall Haval H6

As far as newcomers are concerned, the Great Wall Haval H6 leads the charge at #55 with 51,434 sales, followed by the Peugeot 308 at #72 and the Mazda3 Xingcheng at #81. Very revealing to see there are only 3 new entrants in the Top 100 whereas we witness the arrival of 3 to 5 new models each month. Other all-new models appearing thin the ranking include the Brilliance V5 at #106, the BYD G6 at #107, the Great Wall Voleex C50 at #116, the Chevrolet Malibu at #118, the Venucia D50 at #126, the Luxgen 7 SUV at #129, the Great Wall Haval M4 at #136 and the ChangAn Eado at #140.

Previous post: China August 2012: Ford Focus leads, VW Lavida back in the game

Previous month: China 7 months 2012: Chevrolet Sail and VW Passat big winners

One year ago: China August 2011: Buick Excelle and VW Passat impress

Full 8 months 2012 Top 283 All-models Ranking Table below.