China July 2014: Market up 10% thanks to MPV and SUV sales

Dongfeng Joyear X5. MPVs are up 66% in July.

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 318 All-models and Top 64 All-brands! Click on title to see *

New light vehicle sales in China are up a solid 10% year-on-year in July to 1.3578 million, bringing the year-to-date total to 10.992 million, up 11% on 2013. This continued growth pattern has a lot to do with the extremely good health of MPV and SUV sales: up 66% and 25% year-on-year respectively this month. Sedan sales are up only 2% while microvans are down 2%. In the commercial vehicle sector, the picture is radically different: sales are down 7% in July to 260,200 units which brings the year-to-date total to 2.310 million down 4% from the same period last year.

ChangAn CS75. SUV sales are up 25% year-on-year in China in July.

In the models ranking, no surprise in pole position: the Wuling Hongguang holds on thanks to sales up a magnificent 91% year-on-year to 55,008, adding up to a huge 426,657 units year-to-date, the only passenger car above 300,000 sales over the period and the first to ever break the 400,000 unit-mark so early into the year. Overtaken by the Ford Focus in June, the VW Lavida reclaims the 2nd spot it holds year-to-date thanks to sales up 7% year-on-year to 34,866 units vs. 31,224 (-5%) for the Focus. Excellent score of the VW Jetta up 10% to its 2nd best-ever monthly volume at 27,587 units, while the VW Sagitar at #5 makes it 3 Volkswagens in the Top 5.

The Haval H6 breaks its volume and ranking records this month in 6th place overall.

Another extremely impressive performance for the Haval H6: China’s best-selling SUV breaks its monthly volume record for the 8th time in the past 12 months (!) at 26,543 sales (+40%), also accessing its highest ever ranking at home in 6th place. The VW Santana is down 3 spots on June but up 52% year-on-year to #7, the Chevrolet Cruze is back in shape at #8 and +37%, the VW Tiguan is back inside the Top 10 for the first time since last February at #10, the VW Polo is up a massive 65% year-on-year to #11 and the Hyundai Verna up 48% to #12.

Thanks to the new generation, the Toyota Corolla is at its highest in China since May 2012.

Boosted by the new model, the Toyota Corolla is up a mammoth 44 ranks on June to land in 13th place with 17,659 sales, up 40% year-on-year. This is great news for the Corolla’s worldwide ranking as China figures traditionally play a large part in its global performance. This is the Corolla’s best position in China since May 2012 (#10). Another great performing Volkswagen this month is the Golf, up a gigantic 138% year-on-year to #19 with 14,483 units.

ChangAn Eado in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur – May 2014

Further down, the ChangAn Eado continues to impress: it is up 5 spots on June to reach its highest ever ranking at home at #21 thanks to 13,036 units, up 114% on July 2013. The Eado confirms it is the best-selling Chinese sedan at home, and by far: the next most popular is the BYD F3 at #61! The new generation Nissan X-Trail has clearly struck a chord with Chinese consumers: it is up a further 6 ranks on June to a record #24 and 12,300 sales, while the Chery Tiggo 3 is up a beautiful 12 spots to #29 and 10,895 units, up 76% year-on-year.

First Top 100 ranking for the Zotye T600 at #67…

The Citroen C-Elysée reaches its highest monthly ranking since BSCB follows China monthly at #32, now that the new model has arrived the Honda Fit is up 20 ranks on last month to #36, the Ford Mondeo breaks its ranking record at #37, the Dongfeng Future is up 5 spots on June to #41 and #4 Chinese and the Dongfeng Joyear is up 23 to a best-ever #43. 3 models break into the Chinese Top 50 for the first time this month: the Buick Encore is up 17 spots to #45, the Ford Ecosport up 8 to #47 and the Peugeot 301 up a massive 44 ranks to #49, while the Toyota Yaris L falls just short off it, up 19 spots to #51.

Peugeot 3008

Peugeot is in great shape with both the 3008 and 2008 hitting all-time high levels in July: the 3008 is up 34 spots on June to a record #53 and the 2008 up 23 to a record #75 and 5,032 sales. Notice also the Zotye T600 up a huge 49 ranks on last month to break into the Top 100 for the first time at… #67 with 5,940 sales and #9 Chinese above the Emgrand EC7, the ChangAn CS75 equally impressive with a 47 spot-gain to also spend its first month inside the Top 100 at #71 with 5,310 units and the Chevrolet Trax up 20 to a best-ever #81.

Beijing Auto Senova D50

As far as other successful recent launches are concerned, let’s salute the Mazda3 Axela up 13 spots to #87, the Haima S5 breaking into the Top 100 for the first time at #89 (+18), the Luxgen 6 SUV doing the same at #91 (+39), the Beijing Senova D50 up 20 to #107 and the Maxus G10 up 45% on June to #234. There are 4 all-new models making their very first appearance in the Chinese ranking this month, but as is the tradition on BSCB this will be the subject of a separate post, so stay tuned!

Previous post (1): China June 2014: Now updated with Top 10 LCVs

Previous post (2): China 6 months 2014: Santana makes it 4 Volkswagens in Top 6

Previous month: China June 2014: Audi breaks record in market up 11%

One year ago: China July 2013: VW Jetta, Great Wall Haval H6 and Honda Crider impress

Full July 2014 Top 318 All-models and Top 64 All-brands Ranking Tables below.