China 6 months 2013: VW Lavida reigns, Nissan Sylphy up 111%

VW Lavida

* See the Top 319 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

After exploring the June sales charts in detail and looking at the all-new entrants in the ranking, I give you the 6 months summary for China. If the US market (our first 6 months update) is up a very robust 8% over the period to 7.8 million units, passenger car sales in China do even better, up 17% to 8.18 million units. With LCVs, we are looking at 10,78 million vehicles sold in China halfway through 2013, a new record and 12% above 2012… Who said the Chinese car market was slowing down? Number One every month so far this year bar June, the VW Lavida logically takes the lead on the models ranking with a gargantuan 211,567 sales. This is a new record for a passenger car in China, and nearly double its figure from the same time last year when it dropped to #8. The Lavida was already #1 halfway through 2011 but never finished a year in first place…until this year?

Nissan Sylphy

In 2nd place we find 2012’s market leader the Ford Focus, up 69% on 2012 to 185,698 sales, compared to 134,785 over the same period in the US! Note this includes two generations of the model. The Chevrolet Sail is up 7% but down one spot to #3 while the Buick Excelle is up 664 units but down 3 ranks to #4. This makes it 3 American models in the Top 4, exactly like this time last year. If one year ago there were 5 Volkswagens in the Top 11, this time they are 5 in the Top 8! Below the Lavida, the Sagitar is up a huge 105% and 21 spots to #5, the Passat and Bora are down one to #6 and #7 respectively and the Jetta is down 5 to #8. Notice also the Nissan Sylphy up 111% and 31 ranks to break into the Top 10 at #9.

Hyundai ix35

Further down, the Buick Excelle XT/GT is up 6 spots to #11, the VW Polo up 61% and 21 ranks to #20, the Hyundai ix35 up 74% and 26 spots to #26, BMW 5 Series L up 34% to #33 and Chevrolet Malibu up 279% to #49. This time last year, I was shocked to find no Chinese model inside the Top 15 with the FAW Xiali N3/N5 leading the locals at #16 whereas there were 2 in the Top 4 in 2011. This time it is even worse: the most popular local is the Great Wall Haval H6 at #18 (+301% though) followed by the Emgrand EC7 at #19 (+43%), Great Wall Voleex C30 at #27 (+5%) and Chery QQ at #30 (+3%).

The ChangAn Yuexiang V3 is the 4th best-selling all-new model over the period.

As far as all-new models are concerned, while in the US there is one lonely newcomer in the Top 100 (the Subaru XV Crosstrek), in China there are no less than 11. It’s the usual suspect on top: the Hyundai Elantra Langdong ranks #12 with 103,240 sales, with the Kia K3 (#31), BYD F3 Surui (#32), ChangAn Yuexiang V3 (#65), ChangAn Honor (#66), Ford Kuga (#67) and Hyundai Santa Fe (#70) also doing very well.

Gleagle GC7 sales are up 22% on 2012.

And now onto the random section. Today I have decided to put the spotlight on the Chinese brand Gleagle. Wot? Exactly. You see Geely doesn’t exist as a brand anymore in China, its models are sold through 3 different marques locally: Gleagle (entry-level), Shanghai Englon (mid-level, emulating British, classic style) and Emgrand (medium to high-end). And most of the Gleagle range is doing great, thanks. See for yourself: the GX7 is up 250% to #105, the Vision up 34% to #112, the Panda up 31% to #113 and the GC7 (pictured) up 22% to #160. Only the the Freedom Ship (aka Geely CK) is not in such a great shape at -35% to #121…

Previous post: China June 2013: Focus on the all-new models

June post: China June 2013: Ford Focus leads, Great Wall Haval M4 up

One year ago: China 6 months 2012: 3 US models in Top 4, no Chinese in Top 15!

Full 6 months 2013 Top 319 All-models Ranking Table below.