Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Venucia D50

* See the Top 265 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to DC *

New car sales in China are up 12.5% year-on-year in April to 1.4 million. The Buick Excelle is still not letting go of its pole position, holding it for the third time in a row and the 6th time in the last 9 months with 23,179 sales, bringing its year-to-date total to an outstanding 99,557 units. Below the antediluvian VW Jetta (based on the 1984 model) still valiant in 2nd place, the Ford Focus, boosted by the arrival of the new generation, is up a massive 14 spots on March to round up the podium at #3 and 21,793 units.

Ford Focus

Volkswagen manages to place 3 models in the Top 5 with the Passat at #4 and the Lavida at #5 and 4 models in the Top 7 with the Bora at #7… Like in January, the Hyundai Verna hits its best-ever ranking at #8 thanks to a record 18,786 sales, making it two Hyundais in the Top 10 with the Elantra Yuedong at #9. Highest position ever also for the VW Magotan up to #11 with 16,188 units.

GAC Trumpchi GS5

The best-selling Chinese model is once again the Great Wall Haval H3/H5/H6 this month at #13 with 15,747 sales followed by the FAW Xiali N3/N5 at #15 with 15,476 units and the Chery QQ at #20 with 12,423 sales. In transition between the old and new generations, the BYD F3, best-selling model in China overall in 2009 and 2010, is down to #45 at 8,216 units. Notice also the excellent performance of the Audi A6 L up to #30 with 13,675 sales, double the amount it sold in Germany over the same period!

Great Wall Voleex C50

As far as recent launches are concerned, the best-performing model is without doubt the Great Wall Voleex C50, up 35 spots on March to break into the Top 100 for the first time at #90 with 3,913 units. The ChangAn Eado also gets noticed, climbing up 32 ranks to #143 with 2,003 sales while the BMW X1 is up 43 spots to #144 at 2,000 units and the MG 5 is up 14 ranks to #168.

Gleagle GX7

But the big story this month in China is the arrival of two new low-cost brands in the market, making it a total of 4. In April 2011, Guangzhou-Honda launched the new brand Linian with the S1 based on the previous generation City to mixed results with a peak of #89 last August. That same month, General Motors launched the Baojun 630 which received a much warmer welcome: it peaked at #31 last February, and after falling to #83 last month it is now back up to #53.

Ciimo Si Ming

In April we welcome Ciimo, Dongfeng-Honda’s low-cost brand with the Ciimo Si Ming based on the previous generation Honda Civic selling 3,022 units for a respectable 118th position. Dongfeng-Nissan released the Venucia D50 based on the previous generation Nissan Tiida sedan, landing at #122 with 2,845 sales at #122. These two monthly figures are so far the strongest starts for Chinese low-cost models: the Linian S1 debuted at 2,084 units and the Baojun 630 at 869.

Great Wall Haval M4

But these two are not the only newcomers in the ranking this month. We also welcome the Gleagle GX7 at #135 with 2,307 sales, the now locally produced Mercedes GLK at #169 with 1,344 units, the Beijing E-Series at #183 with 949 sales, the Dongfeng Fengshan A60 at #191 with 700 units, the Chery Cowin 5 at #194 with 589 sales, the Great Wall Haval M4 at #197 with 532 units, the GAC Trumpchi GS5 at #200 with 484 sales and the Gonow Aoosed GX5 at #245 with 85 units. That’s no less than 10 all-new models in China this month!

Previous month: China March 2012: Buick Excelle #1, Honda CR-V breaks record

One year ago: China April 2011: VW Lavida takes off, new brand Linian arrives

Full April 2012 Top 265 Ranking Table below.

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Wuling Hongguang

* See the Top 5 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

This month the Light Commercial Vehicle market in China is absolutely stable year-on-year at 549,304 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,357,253 units, down 6% on 2011. The Wuling Sunshine is the best-selling model in the category by far again with 54,546 sales, albeit down 25% on March 2011. Its year-to-date total is also down 25% year-on-year at a still monumental 152,681 units in 3 months. And for the usual comparison: Ford sold 143,827 F-Series in the US and VW sold 122,569 Golfs in the whole of Europe in the same period…

Below, the entire Top 5 stays unchanged vs. last month, with the Foton Forland selling 44,761 units (-8%), followed by the Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang at 38,324 sales (+1%) and the ChangAn Mini Bus at 37.920 units (-10%). In 5th position, the Wuling Hongguang confirms it is now a force to be reckoned with as far as Chinese Light Commercial Vehicles are concerned…

Previous month: China LCV February 2012: Wuling Hongguang’s entrance

Full March 2012 Top 5 Ranking Table below.

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Buick Excelle

* See the Top 253 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Chinese car market is up a modest 4% year-on-year in March to 1.4 million registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 3.77 million, down 2% on 2011. Now that the Buick Excelle has found its mojo and finished 2011 in pole position, it’s not letting it go: like in February, it ranks #1 this month with 24,134 sales. It’s the 5th time in the last 8 months the Excelle leads the Chinese models ranking.

Honda CR-V

The Chevrolet Sail is up 5 spots on February to a best-ever 2nd place at 23,094 units, while the VW Jetta reaches its best spot since March 2011 and its highest volume since January 2011 at #3 with 22,138 sales. After a couple of weak months in the wake of the new generation launch, the Honda CR-V hits its highest ranking and volume ever at #4 and 21,124 units, two records it also broke on the same month in the US. 3 Volkswagens follow: the Passat, still #2 year-to-date, the Bora and Lavida.

Great Wall Haval H6

At #10 the Great Wall Haval H-Series is the best-selling Chinese model this month and ranks within the Top 10 for the third time ever after November and December 2011. Further down the ranking, the VW Magotan is up 36 spots on last month to #13, the Chery Tiggo is up 30 to #28 and the Chery E5 is up 11 to a best-ever 55th place. After a high at #31 in January, the Baojun 630 is down to #83 this month, not far above the Linian S1, the other new low-cost brand/model, up 28 spots to #99.

Riich G3

Haima M11

As far as recent launches are concerned, great performers include the Riich G3 (endorsed by Lionel Messi) up 24 spots to #129, the Great Wall Voleex C50 up 43 to #130 and the ChangAn Eado up 390% and 34 ranks to #175. There are 3 newcomers in the ranking this month: the Haima M11 is performing best at #177 with 975 sales, followed by the MG 5 at #182 and 748 units and the BMW X1 at #188 with 575 sales.

Previous post: China February 2012: When will Chinese cars rule at home?

Previous month: China February 2012: Buick Excelle leads, Chevrolet Malibu arrives

One year ago: China March 2011: FAW Xiali N-Series grabs the pole position

Full March 2012 Top 253 Ranking Table below.

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Wuling Hongguang

* See the Top 5 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Chinese Light Commercial Vehicle is back in shape in February at 444,908 registrations, up 12% year-on-year and bringing the 2012 year-to-date total to 807,949 units, down 10% on 2011. No surprises on top: the Wuling Sunshine is the best-selling LCV in the country again in February with 50,983 sales, down 11% year-on-year, totalling 98,135 units year-to-date, down 25%. To be compared with 47,273 Ford F-Series sold this month in the USA and 32,724 VW Golfs sold in the whole of Europe…

For once there’s a lot of change in the rest of the ranking: the Foton Forland is up to a best-ever 2nd place thanks to 39,131 units sold, up a massive 41% year-on-year and up to #4 year-to-date at 55,571 sales, down 3%. The Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang and ChangAn Mini Bus follow but the big event this month is the very first appearance in the Top 5 of the Wuling Hongguang, a clear improvement in Wuling’s design, with 24,694 sales and a 2012 year-to-date total of 43,147 units.

Previous month: China LCV January 2012: The ChangAn NangLin, a newcomer in the Top 5

One year ago: China LCV February 2011: Wuling Sunshine at 73,000 sales

Full February 2012 Top 5 Ranking Table below.

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Will the 2013 BYD F3 reclaim the title of best-selling car in China?

* See the Top 100 best-selling Chinese models by clicking on the title! *

Chinese models are improving their quality and design year after year and are starting to climb the sales ranks of many export countries. But before you can rule overseas, you need to rule at home, right? That’s what the Japanese and Korean industries did after all – granted, with the help of very restrictive import laws.

The facelifted model should help reboot local sales of Chery QQ

The thing is, Chinese brands are far from ruling in China, and things seem to be getting worse. One year ago, there were 34 Chinese models in the overall Top 100. This figure has gone down to 29 over the Full Year 2011 and 31 this month. Local models are stuck at the bottom of the ranking, with 59 locals between #101 and #200 and 37 between #200 and #250… Brand-wise, only BYD and Great Wall rank are in the Top 10.

FAW Xiali N5

Another recent big change and probably one of the main reasons the weakness of Chinese locals has been under the spotlight lately is the weakening of the BYD F3, formerly the best-selling passenger car overall but now only #4 among locals…The new generation can’t come fast enough. An old favourite, the FAW Xiali N3/N5, has reclaimed the pole position both over the Full Year 2011 and in February. Great Wall keeps improving, placing 2 models on the podium (vs. none one year ago): the Voleex C30 and Haval H3/H5/H6.

Chery E5

In 5th place this month, the Chery QQ is another local model that is starting to show signs of ageing – and will be renewed soon. Will it be enough to reverse the fortune of an entire industry? Probably not. Hope? There are 4 local newcomers (ie less than one year old) in the overall Top 100 this month: the BYD S6 is #7 Chinese/#29 overall, the Baojun 630, a genuine success story, is #9/44, the Chery E5 is #19/66 and the BYD G6 is #29/91.

Emgrand EC8

Other good performers among local models in February include the BYD L3 up from #49 Chinese one year ago to #10 this month, ChangAn CX20 up from #31 to #17, DongFeng Future up from #41 to #20, DongFeng Fengshang H30/S30 up from #39 to #25 and the Emgrand EC8 up from #69 to #36.

General Chinese post: China February 2012: Buick Excelle leads, Chevrolet Malibu arrives

One year ago: China February 2011: VW Lavida #1, VW Tiguan in Top 10, Sunny up

Full February 2012 Chinese models Top 100 Ranking Table below.

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Buick Excelle

* See the Top 250 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

After leading the Chinese market over the Full Year 2011 but spending 3 months away from the pole position, the Buick Excelle confirms it is China’s favourite car and tops the models ranking in February with 23,564 sales. It is the fourth time in the last 7 months that the Excelle is #1 and the first time since October. The VW Lavida is also back to its 2011 level at #2 and 21,996 units. Over the last 12 months, the Lavida ranked #1 or #2 no less than 9 times!

VW Tiguan

Like in January, the Chevrolet Cruze is #3 with 20,662 sales and is followed by 3 Volkswagen, making it 4 VW in the Top 6! The Bora is up 8 spots on January to #4 at 18,377 units, the Jetta is up 9 ranks to #5 and the Passat is down 5 spots to #6. Yet another VW shines in the Top 10: the Tiguan delivers 15,487 units at #9, China being by far its strongest market in the world.

BYD L3

Further down, great performers include the Great Wall Voleex C30 up 9 ranks to #12 and #2 Chinese model behind the FAW Xiali N3/N5, the Skoda Octavia up to #19, the ChangAn Benben Mini up 15 spots to #28 with 10,053 sales and the BYD L3 up 17 ranks to #46, its best ranking since September 2010 and its second best ranking ever.

Chevrolet Malibu

The Baojun 630 takes its first breather since its launch last August, down 13 spots to #44 with 8,017 units, while the Chevrolet Malibu is the best performing (and only) newcomer this month, landing directly within the Top 100 at #96 and 3,333 sales. Among recent launches, the Gleagle EC7 is up 18 spots and 36% on January to #125 and 2,148 units, the Great Wall Voleex C50 is up 13 spots and 96% to #173 and 833 units and the Toyota Prius is up 25 ranks and 319% to #202 and 302 sales.

Previous month: China January 2012: Huge month for the VW Passat

One year ago: China February 2011: VW Lavida #1, VW Tiguan in Top 10, Sunny up

Full February 2012 Top 250 Ranking Table below.

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ChangAn NangLing (aka Starlight) with ChangAn Minibus in background

* See the Top 5 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks to Rutger & Austin *

For once the LCV market behaves worse than the overall Chinese market, very shy in this start of year, at -28% on January 2011 to 363,041 registrations. The Wuling Sunshine is unsurprisingly #1 again with 47,152 sales, albeit down 36% year-on-year. As usual let’s compare this figure to the amount of Ford F-Series sold in the same period in the US (38,493) and the number of VW Golfs sold in the whole of Europe that same month (36,799) to understand the scale of the Sunshine’s performance even in freefall compared to January last year…

The Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang ranks #2 for the 6th consecutive month at 31,708 units (-17%), followed by the ChangAn Mini Bus with 28,358 sales, down 21%. Very rare event, there is a newcomer in the LCV Top 5 in China this month! It is the ChangAn Nangling ranking 5th at 19,367 units, down 17%. Now I am not 100% that this is the right picture above so if you personally know the ChangAn please either confirm or infirm and post the correct picture by commenting on this article!

Previous post: China LCV Full Year 2011: Wuling Sunshine sovereign again

One year ago: China LCV January 2011: Wuling Sunshine close to 75,000 sales

Full January 2012 Top 5 Ranking Table below.

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VW Passat

* See the Top 250 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks DC *

The Chinese models ranking is as volatile as ever, with last month’s leader – the Honda Accord – down to 42nd place in January and this month’s #1 up 19 spots on December: it’s the VW Passat, taking full advantage of the new generation now widely available across the country to grab the Chinese monthly pole position for the very first time in the nameplate’s history with a whopping 30,001 sales!

This means the VW Passat is only the second model in history to sell over 30,000 monthly units in China with the BYD F3 which last passed this benchmark in March 2010… For perspective, the Passat is also a massive success in its native Germany, ranking on the podium almost every month but struggling to pass the 10,000 monthly sales.

Buick Excelle GT

The following 3 models are regulars: the Buick Excelle, 2011′s best-seller, is #2 at 28,680 units, the Chevrolet Cruze is #3 with 22,711 sales and the Chevrolet Sail is #4 at 21,439 units. There are a couple of other outstanding performances in the Top 10 this month: the VW Tiguan reaches a best-ever 5th position thanks to 20,408 sales, the Buick Excelle XT/GT is also at its highest ever in 6th place at 19,787 sales while the Hyundai Verna delivers a brilliant 17,186 units at #8.

Baojun 630

Not only did General Motors place 4 models in the Top 6 this month, it also seems to have cracked the low-cost equation in China: the Baojun 630 hasn’t stopped climbing the ranking since its launch last August: it is up another 20 spots in January to knock at the Top 30′s door at #31 with an impressive 9,006 sales. In comparison, Honda’s attempt at a low-cost brand/model, the Linian S1, is down 36 spots to #143 in January.

Brilliance V5

A few recent launches shine further down the ranking: the Peugeot 308 is up 25 ranks on December to #53, the Brilliance V5 is up a massive 132 ranks to #79 with 4,310 sales for its first full month, the Lifan X60 is up 37 spots to #123, while the Gleagle GC7 (#143) and Riich G3 (#147) are a bit more shy. Notice also the DongFeng Fengshan H30/S30 up 105 ranks to #50 and the ChangAn CX20 up 71 spots to #59.

Great Wall Voleex C50

We welcome 3 new models this month in the Chinese ranking but they are rather discreet: the Great Wall Voleex C50 sells 424 units at #186, the ChangAn Eado is #213 with 129 sales and the locally produced Toyota Prius makes its first appearance at #227 and 72 units.

Previous month: China December 2011: Honda Accord and Great Wall Haval impress

Full Year 2011: Buick Excelle #1 after 4 years at #2

One year ago: China January 2011: BYD F3 on top, Nissan Sunny launches

Full January 2011 Top 250 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Wuling Sunshine

* See the Top 5 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

417,438 new Light Commercial Vehicles were registered in December in China, down 7% on December 2010 and bringing the 2011 total to 4,928,749 units, also down 7% on 2010. The Wuling Sunshine leads the category again this year with a large margin: it sells 60,876 units in December, up 32%, and 731,749 over the full year, down just 3% on 2010. December is the 4th consecutive month above 60,000 sales for the Sunshine which ranked #1 every single month of the year in 2011 and was never threatened.

Wuling Rongguang

The Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang is without contest the performer of the year: it ranks #2 in December with 31,843 sales (+32%) and is up 2 spots and 38% over the Full Year 2011 at 382,762 units. The Foton Forland stays #3 but drops by 10% to 373,443 sales, followed by the ChangAn MiniBus (-34%) and the DongFeng MiniBus (+5%).

To give these figures a little perspective, let’s notice that the Ford F-Series sold 681,242 units in 2011 in the whole of North America (USA + Canada) including 76,230 units in December, its best volume in over 4 years. In Europe (27 countries), the VW Golf sold 33,849 units in December and 484,547 over the full year…

Previous month: China LCV November 2011: Wuling Sunshine up 40% year-on-year

Previous year: China LCV Full Year 2010: 755,000 Wuling Sunshine sold!

Full Year and December 2011 Top 5 Ranking Tables below.

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Rely X5

* See the Top 45 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

OK it’s my last update on China I promise, then I leave you alone with it. You can see the China December 2011 article here and the China Full Year 2011 article here. Thing is, with the luxury segment, the SUV segment is the most dynamic this year in China with sales up a massive 25% to cross the 2 million-units mark for the first time.

Roewe W5

If the additional volume has been brought mostly by foreign models, Chinese SUVs are starting to do pretty well, better than in most other segments, with 30 locals in the Top 47. The Great Wall Haval H Series is the best-selling SUV in the country since November and broke the 20,000 monthly sales milestone for the first time this month, and the BYD S6, all new for 2011, is already #3 in December with 15,012 units.

Brilliance V5

No less than 11 new SUVs hit the market this year, 9 of which Chinese and most of them totally unknown outside of China – but not anymore to you dear readers! The Lifan X60 is up to #21 in December, the Roewe W5 up to #29, Hawtai B35 up to #31, Brilliance V5 up to #35 and Rely X5 up to #36.

Full Year and December 2011 Top 45 Ranking Tables below.

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