Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Sales of locally-produced Mercedes are up a huge 116% year-on-year in China in February.

See the February 2014 Top 66 All-brands ranking here

See the 2 months 2014 Top 67 All-brands ranking here

Finally today I can share with you a complete brands ranking for China for both February and year-to-date 2014 (excluding LCVs and imports as usual). Volkswagen reigns supreme once again with sales up 38% year-on-year to 232,108 units, the only brand to manage over 100,000 sales and by far. Hyundai remains #2 at 74,022 (+7%) while Wuling surprisingly rounds up the podium at 65,129 sales (the Hongguang). In the Top 10, notice Toyota up 39%, Ford up 81% and Nissan up 60%. Further down, other great gainers include Honda is up 30% to #11, Audi up 39% to #13, Dongfeng up 45% to #15, BMW up 60% to #20, Mercedes up 116% to #27, Lifan up 134% to #30, Beijing Auto up 245% to #2, GAC up 68% to #34 and Venucia up 64% to #37.

Hyundai sold over 1 million units in China for the first time in 2013.

* See the Top 70 best-selling brands here! *

Thanks to Renato, Alexandra and IHS I can now share you the most popular brands of passenger cars in China for the Full Year 2013! A reminder that imports and LCVs are not included in these figures. Volkswagen is still by far the leader with sales up a splendid 17% to 2.4 million units, ahead of Hyundai up an even more impressive 20% on 2012 to break the one million annual unit mark for the first time at 1,030,808 sales. Toyota passes Nissan to become #3 with 857,749 units vs. 843,063 and Buick rounds up the Top 5 just above 800,000 sales. Honda, Chevrolet, Ford and Kia follow.

BYD Qin. BYD is the most popular Chinese carmaker at home. Or is it Great Wall? Or Geely?

Five Chinese manufacturers make their way into the Top 15: BYD at #10 with 506,189 sales, ChangAn at #11 with just above half a million units, Wuling at #12, Chery at #13 and Great Wall at #15, with its new brand Haval debuting at #19 with 279,764 units (Great Wall+Haval would rank #9). Dongfeng ranks 16th and FAW 17th, so that’s 8 Chinese brands inside the Top 20. There are 6 more in the Top 30, 9 more in the Top 40 and 6 more in the Top 50 for a total of 44, 45 with Riich which disappeared this year… Note that all Geely brands (Emgrand, Englon and Gleagle) would add up to 549,393 sales and will make Geely the #1 Chinese brand at home once they are all merged into Geely this year.

Buick Excelle GT

* See the Top 323 All-models and Top 67 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

After exploring in detail Chinese February sales figures it is now time to look at the year-to-date ranking to extract longer term trends. First observation is the podium is unchanged year-on-year, with the Wuling Hongguang up 31% to 146,282 sales (note one year ago it wasn’t assimilated as a Passenger Car yet) ahead of the VW Lavida up 29% to 107,415 units and the Ford Focus up 10% to 64,284 sales. Just below, the VW Santana explodes, gaining 172% and 29 spots year-on-year to #4 and 55,431 units. For the first time in a YTD ranking, the Buick Excelle XT/GT is above its Excelle namesake at #5 and 50,426 sales (+33%) vs. 48,641 (+8%) however the Excelle should reclaim the advantage soon, if February sales are any indication.

ChangAn Eado sales are up 51% so far in 2014.

The rest of the Top 10 is 100% Volkswagen: the Passat is up 6% to #7, followed by the Sagitar (+8%), Jetta (+15%) and Tiguan (+19%). Up a massive 60% compared to when it was still called Great Wall, the Haval H6 is just about to enter the Top 10 at #11. Illustrating a trend we saw clearly in February, the next best-selling Chinese models are new faces: the ChangAn Honor follows at #22, ahead of the Dongfeng Future at #28, ChangAn Eado up 51% to #32, BYD S6 at #35 and Great Wall M4 at #36 whereas the Emgrand EC7 is down 35% to #38.

17,399 Chery E3 found a buyer in China in two months.

As far as the 49 (!) all-new entrants over the period, the Honda Crider leads the charge at #30 with 24,161 sales with the Hyundai Mistra not far behind at #37 and 19,782, even taking the advantage on the Crider in February at #39 vs. #43. The Toyota Vios could nearly be considered a new model, the new generation being up 18766% (!) over the old one so far in 2014 at #40 and 18,300 units. We then have the Chery E3 at #46 with a very substantial 17,399 sales, the Ford Mondeo at #54 and 16,070 units, Dongfeng Fengguang at #58 and 15,501 sales and the Haima M3 at #64 and 14,360 units.

Previous post: China February 2014: VW Santana takes off at +189%

One year ago: China 2 months 2013: VW Lavida and Ford Focus above the rest

Full 2 months 2014 Top 323 All-models and Top 67 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

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VW Santana

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 309 All-models and Top 66 All-brands rankings! *

The Chinese market is up an insolent 18% year-on-year in February to 1.6 million units, brushing off all suggestions that it may slow down in 2014… Below the traditional Wuling Hongguang (65,129 sales), VW Lavida (45,847) and Ford Focus (27,899), the hero of the month is the VW Santana, now benefitting fully from the widespread availability of the new generation. It is up a huge 189% on February 2013 to land in 4th place, the nameplate’s best ranking in years. At 27,661 sales, it is only 109 units below its record breaking January score, a month when most models have broken records. The Buick Excelle is up 3 spots on last month to round up the Top 5.

The ChangAn Honor is the third best-selling Chinese Passenger Car at home this month.

Other great performers atop the ranking this month include the VW TIguan up 9 spots to #6 and 21,666 sales, the Haval H6 back up 3 to #11 and the VW Polo stable at #13 vs. #24 over the Full Year 2013. The successful Chinese models in February are remarkably different from usual: the ChangAn Honor ranks #3 local at #24, followed by the BYD S6 at #28, Dongfeng Future at #31 and the ChangAn Eado at #32 while the Emgrand EC7 and Great Wall M4 are down to #34 and #35 respectively. Notice also the Brilliance FSV/H330 shining at #40 and 7,829 sales, up 170% year-on-year.

The Qoros 3 makes its very first appearance in the Chinese ranking this month.

Let’s also salute the beautiful 29th place of the BMW 5 Series L, the Hyundai Mistra maintaining itself inside the Top 40 at #39, the BMW 3 Series L up 17 ranks to #53 and the Peugeot 301 breaking into the Chinese Top 100 for the first time, up 37 spots on January to #64 and a record 5,682 units, becoming the brand’s best-seller in the country. Among recent launches, the Fiat Ottimo is up 61 spots to #206 and the much anticipated Qoros 3 is the only all-new entrant in the ranking this month, landing at #242 with 350 sales.

Previous post: China February 2014: Market up 18%

Previous month: China January 2014: Wuling Hongguang, VW Lavida & Buick Excelle XT/GT break records

One year ago: China February 2013: Lavida leads, 1 of 6 Volkswagens in Top 8

Full February Top 309 All-local models and Top 66 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

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As an appetiser before we go into the February brands and models rankings in detail for China, CAAM announced today that February sales were up 18% year-on-year to 1.6 million units, a much larger improvement than the one registered in January (+6%). Sales were boosted by great performances from foreign manufacturers such as Ford (+67%) and Toyota (+43%). Reversely, Chinese carmakers saw their market share decline at home for the 6th consecutive month. The Chinese new light vehicle market is up 11% year-on-year so far in 2014 vs. a CAAM prediction of 8 to 10% in the Full Year. Source: www.boursorama.com, many thanks to my dear Dad for the tip.

Fiat Ottimo

* See the Top 320 All-local models ranking by clicking on the title! Thanks CarnewsChina *

As is the tradition on BestSellingCarsBlog, after going through January data in detail, we now zoom in on the all-new locally produced models making their first appearance in the Chinese ranking this month. This way you know all there is to know about absolutely all new cars getting into production in the most important car marketplace there is. In January we have 3 all-new entrants in the ranking, all quite low in the sales charts for now, starting with the Beijing Auto BJ40 at #237 with 600 sales.

Beijing Auto BJ40

The BJ40 originally debuted as the Beijing Auto B40 at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, and over the years it has been seen testing all over the country, to finally launch this month. Interestingly, its appearance is basically unchanged and the engine is the same that ‘powered’ the 2010 concept. The price range goes from 146.800 to 186.800 yuan, or US$ 24.200 to 30.800. Its design is clearly inspired from Jeep and will appeal to consumers outside of the big cities. The BJ40 is already above the level of Beijing Auto’s other jeep offering (the BAW Jeep finished 2013 at #251) so breaking into the Top 200 within the next couple of months would be a good start.

Zhongxing C3 Urban Ark

At #240 with 581 sales, we have a model from Chinese manufacturer Zhongxing, also known as ZX Auto and famous for its Hilux-inspired Grand Tiger pickup used during the Libyan war. After the Landwind finished 2013 at #234, the small SUV C3 Urban Ark is only the brand’s second model to appear in the Chinese sales charts, and lands at roughly the same level. However its price (57.800 yuan / US$9.500) making it one of the cheapest SUVs in China (if not the cheapest) should be a very attractive element especially in the less-motorised West of the country. Competing with the likes of the Great Wall Haval M4, Jonway A380 and Lifan X60, this could be Zhongxing’s ticket to success in the passenger car market. Breaking into the Top 150 would be satisfying, the Top 100 would make it a runaway hit.

Fiat Ottimo

Finally, at #277 with 150 pre-sales for now (the official launch is in March) we have the Fiat Ottimo, the hatchback version of the Fiat Viaggio launched a year ago here. If the Viaggio has its Dogde equivalent in North America (the Dart), this hatchback is unique to China. It is priced between 95.000 and 145.000 yuan, or US$15.700-23.900, and marketed as a sporty car aimed at young first-car buyers in 1st and 2nd tier cities. However with sedans still being widely more successful than hatchbacks in China, don’t expect the Ottimo to beat the Viaggio in sales. A Top 150 ranking within the next couple of months would be encouraging.

Previous month: China December 2013: Focus on the all-new models

Full January 2014 Top 320 All-models Ranking Table below.

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Record-breaking month for the VW Santana.

* See the Top 66 All-brands and Top 320 All-modelss by clicking on the title! *

This month, new vehicle sales are up a further 6% on January 2013 which was already an all-time monthly record to reach 2.16 million registrations. 19 models sold more than 20,000 units in January (previous record: 15 in January 2013) and 51 sold over 10,000 (vs. 44 in January 2013), compared to 9 and 26 respectively in the US over the same period… Lots of monthly annual volume record broken this month, starting with the Top 2 best-sellers: the Wuling Hongguang reaches the unbelievable amount of 81,153 sales, up a huge 70% year-on-year and smashing its previous record of 64,096 units established in February 2013.

The Buick Excelle XT/GT breaks the 30,000 monthly sales mark for the first time.

The VW Lavida for its part breaks its previous record from January 2013 by a massive 28% to hit 61,568 sales, its first time above both the 50,000 and 60,000 annual unit-milestones and only the second passenger car with the Hongguang to ever reach these levels. The Ford Focus is the only model in the Top 5 to not break its monthly volume record, but is still growing faster than the market at +8% to 36,385 sales. The Buick Excelle XT/GT is up 44% on its previous best from one year ago, passing the 30,000 sales mark for the first time at 34,176 units, while the VW Santana boosted by the new generation is up a whopping 158% year-on-year to reach #5 with an all-time best 27,770 sales, smashing its previous record of 20,480 units reached last September.

61,568 VW Lavida found a buyer in China this month! 

Other record breakers in the Top 20 include the VW Sagitar at #9 and 26,686 sales (previous best: 26,184 in January 2013), the VW Polo at #13 and 24,646 (previous best: 17,202 in January 2013), the Haval H6 at #14 and 24,602 (previous best: 23,746 last month) and marking 7 consecutive months of all-time record sales (!), the VW Tiguan at 24,282 (previous best: 21,818 in January 2013), the Hyundai Elantra Langdong at 23,295 (previous best: 22,789 last September), the VW Magotan at 22,116 (previous best: 18,227 in March 2013) and the Audi A6L at 19,242 (previous best: 16,706 in January 2013). Yes you have read well, 6 of the 10 VAG Group models ranking inside this month’s Top 20 reach all-time record heights!

First 10,000+ sales month for the ChangAn CS35.

Further down, the ChangAn Honor is up to best-ever #24 and 15,952 sales, the Chevrolet Malibu is up 89% to #27 and 14,892 units, the ChangAn Eado amazingly become the 4th best-selling Chinese model this month at a record #31 and 13,754 sales, the Ford Kuga breaks its ranking and volume records at #34 and 12,030 units, the Buick GL8 is up 162 spots on December to #35, the Hyundai Mitsra up a further 9 ranks to #36 and 11,749 sales, the Chery E3 is up 6 to #42, the ChangAn CS35 breaks both the Top 50 ranking mark and the 10,000 monthly sales milestone for the first time at #43 with 10,550 units and the Citroen C-Elysee is back inside ethe Top 50 for the first time since January 2011 at #50 thanks to the new model.

The Toyota Yaris L breaks into the Top 100 for its 2nd month of sales.

As for other successful recent launches, let’s notice the Haima M3 up 13 spots on last month to #53 and 9,761 sales, the Dongfeng Fengguang up 14 to #60 and 8,939 units, the Beijing Weiwang M20 up 30 to #82 and 7,096 sales, the Toyota Yaris L up 81 to #83 and the Chery Tiggo 5 up 16 to #86, all last 3 models breaking into the monthly Chinese Top 100 for the very first time, something the Peugeot 301, up 48 ranks on December to #101, should also manage as early as next month. Finally, the DS5 is down 2 spots and 25% on its first month of sales to #214 with 951 units. There are 3 all-new models landing in the ranking this month, but this will the subject of a separate update, so stay tuned!

Previous post: China: The changing habits of car buyers

Full Year 2013 post: China Full Year 2013: Wuling Hongguang and VW Lavida on top

Previous month: China December 2013: Honda Crider breaks into Top 10

One year ago: China January 2013: VW Lavida smashes all-time monthly record

Full January 2014 Top 66 All-brands and Top 320 All-models Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

Traditional dance being performed at a BYD dealership in China.

* See the China Full Year 2013 Report here! Thanks Alexandra *

According to a study by TNS, Chinese car buyers’ behaviour has changed drastically in 2013 compared to a year before, in a market where a record 379 brands of vehicles are available, vs. just 64 a decade ago. Analysis the way Chinese car buyers behave online and in the real world, TNS found that 77% of them have benefitted from a promotion/rebate when they bought their car in 2013, vs. only 39% in 2012! Linked to this, the time allocated to the purchase of a car has lengthened by a huge 40% compared to one year ago.

Chinese consumers have also proved to be very receptive to advertising messages and very opened to friends, family and influencer input at every step of the way in their purchase path: TV advertising, social media, blog, automotive sites and of course the dealership themselves: all play a part in the final purchase decision, which uncovered a very surprising figure. Only 10% of Chinese car buyers end up buying the vehicle they had in mind when they started researching their car purchase!

The Wuling Hongguang is the most popular passenger car in China in 2013.

* See the Top 354 All-local models and Top 70 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

* Check out 1980-2013 Historical Data for China here! *

The Chinese new car market breaks a new record in 2013: up 14% year-on-year to become the very first market in the world to top 20 million annual registrations at 21.98 million. Excluding Light Commercial Vehicles, China car sales are up 18% to 17.93 million units. The top of the models ranking is completely reshuffled this year: the Wuling Hongguang, categorised as an LCV in 2012, lands directly in pole position with 448,484 sales, a new annual all-time record for any passenger car sold in China. In fact, the entire podium is at record levels this year. Before 2013, no passenger car had ever managed to sell more than 300,000 annual units in China, and this year they are 3 to sell more than 400,000! The VW Lavida is up 2 spots and a huge 76% on 2012 thanks to the new generation of the model and the addition of a station wagon variant to 433,870 sales and the Ford Focus is up 36% to 403,640 units.

VW Lavida

Leader in 2011, the Buick Excelle is down one rank to #4 and 296,183 sales, while the Chevrolet Sail is down 3 to 276,301 units in 5th place. Excellent performance of the VW Sagitar up 38% to #6 and of the Nissan Sylphy up 94% and 19 spots to #9 and breaking the monthly volume record for a Japanese model twice in November and December. The Haval H6 (rebranded from Great Wall this year) becomes the most popular SUV in the country thanks to sales surging 94% to 217,889 in 12th position, it broke its monthly volume record 6 consecutive times to lift it to 23,746 units in December!

The Haval H6 is the most popular SUV in China in 2013.

For its first full year of sales, the Hyundai Elantra Langdong is up 156% on 2012 to #13 with 206,348 sales, the Emgrand EC7 is up 32% to become the third Chinese model inside the Top 20 at #18 and 193,210 units, thanks to the new model the VW Santana is up 73% to #20, the Hyundai ix35 is up a splendid 12 spots and 35% to #23, while the Kia K3 is up 405% to #29 for its first full year in market and the Great Wall M4 is up 165% to fall a few units shorts of an annual Top 30 finish at #31. There are 5 more Chinese models in this year’s Top 50: the BYD F3 Surui is up 220% to #34, Chery QQ down 16% to #37, Roewe 350 up 52% to #41, Venucia D50/R50 up 162% to #45 and the FAW Xiali N3/N5/N7 down 30% to #50.

The Ford Kuga is the most popular all-new entrant in the 2013 ranking.

14 models sold more than 200,000 units in 2013 vs. 10 in 2012, and 51 sold over 100,000 units vs. 42 last year. There are no less than 58 all-new nameplates making their first appearance in the Chinese market this year. They are led by the Ford Kuga at #53 and 95,891 sales, Honda Crider at #58 and 91,594 but breaking into the Top 10 in December, Ford Ecosport at #87 and 59,680, Citroen C4L at #90 and 57,185 and Peugeot 3008 at #99 and 52,318. Other notable arrivals include the Audi Q3 at #128, Ford Mondeo at #134, Chery E3 at #157, Honda Jade at #161 and Hyundai Mistra at #191 but already above 10,000 monthly sales in December!

Previous post: China December 2013: Honda Crider breaks into Top 10!

One year ago: China Full Year 2012: Ford Focus triumphs

Two years ago: China Full Year 2011: Buick Excelle best-seller after 4 years at #2

Full Year 2013 Top 354 All-models and Top 70 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

Chery Tiggo 5

* See the Top 324 All-local models ranking by clicking on the title! Thanks CarnewsChina *

As is now the tradition on BestSellingCarsBlog, after going through December data by models and brands, we now zoom in on the all-new locally produced models making their first appearance in the Chinese ranking this month. This way you know all there is to know about absolutely all new cars getting into production in the most important car marketplace there is. In December there are no less than 8 all-new entrants in the ranking, the most since we started this new update last June. The best-performing of all by far is the Chery Tiggo 5, landing just outside the Top 100 at #102 with 5,514 sales. This is the second SUV from Chery, positioned above the original Tiggo 3 and priced between 93.900 and 150.900 yuan (US$ 15.500-25.000). The Tiggo 5 enters an ultra-competitive Chinese SUV market with its eyes set on the Haval H6, the best-selling SUV in the country with 218,000 sales this year, and the Haima S7 (#115 and 42,000 units). The original Tiggo finished 2013 at #66 so a Top 50 ranking for the Tiggo 5 will mean success.

Toyota Yaris L

At #164 with 2,494 sales we have the Toyota Yaris L, made in China by the Guangzhou-Toyota joint venture, and priced between 69.800 and 108.800 yuan (US$ 11.500-18.000). This is the hatchback variant of the new FAW-Toyota Vios that hit the Chinese market a couple of months ago and already stands at #28 with over 13,000 sales in December. The L is added to differentiate the new car from the outgoing Yaris hatchback, which was never successful here because Chinese car buyers considered it too small for the money. However Toyota has already struck gold with the Vios so we can expect the Yaris L to be much more popular than its predecessor. It will compete with the VW Polo (154,000 sales in 2013), Ford Fiesta (49,000) and Honda Fit (40,700), so a Top 75 ranking will make it a success, 100,000+ units in 2014 will make it a hit.

Suzuki S-Cross

The Suzuki S-Cross lands at #202 with 1,627 sales, this is the model we know in Europe, priced in China from 100 to 140.000 yuan (US$ 16.500-23.200). Suzuki dropped the SX4 from the name to differentiate it from the SX4 hatchback still on sale here. The S-Cross is aimed squarely at the Nissan Qashqai (#33 with 125,000 sales in 2013) but with the SX4 totalling 33,000 sales last year (#145), Suzuki should be happy with a Top 100 ranking or 50,000 sales for its first full year in 2014.

DS5

We had been waiting for the next new entrant to pop up for a little while, and now it’s here: Citroen’s premium brand DS launched its first China-made model back in October, and it appears this month at #212 with 1,271 sales, although it is unclear whether this figure is for one or 3 months, as all-new brands always take a little while to register in the official sales charts (Fiat did). DS5 prices range from 219.900 to 301.900 yuan (US$36.400-49.950), is manufactured by the Changan-PSA joint venture, and will soon be followed by the DS4, DS3, and DS X7 SUV. Given this is en entirely new foray into the premium category and a new brand, it is very hard to set sales predictions. Citroen’s long-term goal with DS is to play with the ‘big boys’ Audi (31,000 sales in December), BMW (17,000) and Mercedes (13,000), so a first full year at 15-20,000 units would be a great start for the DS5.

Zotye T600

The next 4 all-new models in this month’s charts all sold less than 400 units, so unless there is a massive improvement in the coming months these will be deemed failures. We start with the Zotye T600 landing at #262 with 433 sales, the brand’s largest SUV so far, designed with a mix of Volkswagen and Audi cues and priced from 79.800 to 98.800 yuan (US$ 13.200-16.300). It competes with the Haval H6, BYD S6 and Chery Tiggo 5 mentioned above. Zotye’s other SUV, the T200, ranked #144 in 2013 with 33,000 sales so a Top 150 spot within the next few months would be a great step in the right direction for the T600.

Haima M8

The Haima M8 hits the Chinese market two months ahead of scheduled when it launched on December 18 and ranks #277 with 246 sales. Price starts at 126.800 yuan (US$21.000) and ends at 166.800 yuan (US$27.600), positioning the M8 in the same category as the ChangAn Raeton (7,200 sales in 2013) and the Emgrand EC8 (10,300 sales). Breaking the 1,000 monthly sales mark and/or the Top 200 within the next 6 months will be a good, class-leading start for the M8.

Venucia Morning Wind (aka Nissan Leaf) 

Whereas its local production is not scheduled to start until 2015, Nissan’s local low-cost brand Venucia lodges a second model in the ranking this month: the Morning Wind, aka E30, which is in fact a rebadged Nissan Leaf. It appears at #278 with 216 sales, and may well stay at that level for a good part of 2014 unless production is moved forward.

BYD Qin

Finally, potentially the most spectacularly designed Chinese car to hit the country’s road in a while (ever?), the BYD Qin plug-in hybrid sports sedan lands at #283 with 142 units sold this month. Prices range from 189.800 to 209.800 yuan (US$31.400-34.700), but clean-car subsidies of central and local governments will bring price down by about 35.000 yuan (US$6.000). Almost impossible to tell whether Chery has hit gold with this model – it did release a gold-coloured showroom version, as plug-in hybrids have stuck to the bottom of the charts so far in China. Ranking inside the 200 best-sellers in the country would be an impressive achievement in itself for the Qin.

Previous month: China November 2013: Focus on the all-new models

Full December 2013 Top 324 All-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…