Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

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.

Read more…

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.

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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!

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

* See the Top 15 best-selling brands here! *

Thanks to Alexandra and IHS I can now share you the most popular brands of passenger cars in China for the Full Year 2013! 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 1.03 million sales. Toyota passes Nissan to become #3 and Buick rounds up the Top 5. Four Chinese manufacturers make their way into the Top 15: Great Wall (#9), BYD (#11), Chery (#13) and Dongfeng (#14).

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

* See the Top 354 All-local models and Top 15 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 Ranking Table 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…

Honda Crider

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

* The Full Year 2013 Report is here! *

Thanks to over 2 million vehicles sold in December, up 18% year-on-year, China confirms its status of biggest car market in the world and finishes 2013 at 21.98 million units, up 14% on 2012 and the first time any country crosses the symbolic 20 million annual sales milestone. Excluding LCVs, the market is up 18% on 2012 to 17.93 million units. Let’s go through December results first, keeping in mind these exclude LCVs. The Wuling Hongguang is the best-selling model in the country for the 5th consecutive month thanks to 41,773 sales and confirming its #1 spot in the final 2013 annual ranking at a record 448,484 units. It is followed like in November by the Ford Focus with 38,299 sales while the VW Lavida jumps back onto the podium at #3 and 33,591 units, up 68% year-on-year.

Nissan Sylphy

Last month the Nissan Sylphy delivered the best-ever monthly volume for a Japanese model in China at 31,333 sales, well this month it beats this record again at #4 with 32,160 units! This is 73% better than in December 2012 and a very impressive performance indeed. In fact a lot of models have beaten their all-time volume record in December as we will see further below. The Chevrolet Sail is back up 4 spots on last month to return in the Top 5 for the first time since last June, passing the Buick Excelle (+73%) and Chevrolet Cruze (+52%) notably. Amazingly, the Haval H6 breaks its monthly volume record for the 6th month in a row, lifting it to 23,746 sales in 9th place, up 53% year-on-year!

The Roewe 350 reaches best-ever #21 ranking and 15,883 sales this month.

Launched in June, the Honda Crider hasn’t stopped climbing the sales charts since, and at a very fast pace. It now breaks into the monthly Top 10 for the very first time, up 9 spots on November to #10 with 22,593 units! This is the Crider’s first time above 20,000 monthly sales and it enables it to become Honda’s best-seller in the country this month, just above the Accord also in fantastic shape, up 14 ranks on last month and 85% year-on-year to #11 and 22,185 units. The Emgrand EC7 breaks its monthly volume record for the third month in a row at #13 with 21,424 sales, up 34% on December 2012. Inside the Top 20, notice also the VW Santana up 320% year-on-year to #13, Toyota RAV4 up 172% to #15 and the VW Tiguan up 277% to #19.

The Beijing E-Series also breaks its ranking and volume records this month in China.

The Roewe 350 also breaks all its records, up 15 spots and 31% on November which was already a record-breaking month for the nameplate and lifting its personal bests to #21 and 15,883 sales, ranking #4 among Chinese models. The Venucia R50/D50 breaks into the monthly Top 30 for the first time at #26 and a best-ever 13,751 sales, up 63% year-on-year, the Toyota Vios is up 3 spots to #28 at 13,086 units for only the 2nd month for this generation, the Great Wall M4 is up 48% to a record 12,232 sales, the Beijing E-Series is up a further 19% on a record-breaking November and a whopping 278% year-on-year to a best-ever #35 and 11,392 units.

The Hyundai Mistra is already above 10,000 monthly units.

4 models break the 10,000 monthly sales barrier for the first time in December. The Hyundai Mistra slices its November ranking in two, up to #45 and 10,502 units, passing this milestone as early as for its first full month of sales in the country at 10,502, the ChangAn Eado is up 103% year-on-year to #46 and 10,399 sales, the Chery E3 reaches this level at its 4th month, up 11 spots and 14% on last month to #48 and 10,221 units and the Baojun 630 is up 77% year-on-year to #49 with 10,220 sales. Further down, notice the Citroen C-Elysee up 165% on December 2012 to #58 thanks to the new generation, the Haima M3 up 20 spots on November to #63, Dongfeng Fengguang up 19 to #74, Fiat Viaggio up 85% year-on-year to #78 and the Peugeot 301 up 42 ranks to #149.

No less than 8 all-new models make their first appearance in this month’s ranking, but this will be the subject of a separate post…

Previous month: China November 2013: Nissan Sylphy delivers best month ever for a Japanese model

One year ago:  China December 2012: New generation VW Jetta up to #2

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

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Citroen’s DS makes its first appearance in the Chinese-made brands ranking this month. 

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

We will start the Chinese by a brands ranking including Passenger Cars, SUVs and MPVs. Keep in mind LCVs and import figures are not included in these totals. Volkswagen is in the lead by far as usual with 187,352 sales, and this month Honda follows, up 3 spots on November to #2 and 100,194 units. Hyundai is up one rank to round up the podium with 97,846 sales, ahead of Toyota and Nissan. Chery is in great shape, up 4 spots to become the #1 Chinese brand at #9 with 55,444 units, followed by ChangAn (54,668), BYD (48,148) and Wuling (41,773). But the big news this month is the very first appearance of Citroen’s luxury brand DS at #53 with 1,273 sales.

Full December 2013 Top 67 brands Ranking Table below.

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Hyundai wants to sell 100,000 Mistra in 2014, and will.

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

As is now the tradition on BestSellingCarsBlog, after going through November data by models and brands and the year-to-date update, 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. This month 5 new cars make their landing. First we have the much-anticipated Hyundai Mistra at #90 with 6,260 sales even though it’s only been on sale for 10 days. The Mistra steps inbetween the Elantra and Sonata in the Hyundai range and is priced from 150.000 to 190.000 yuan (US$24.700-31.300).

Hyundai Mistra

The Mistra competes with strong sellers like the VW Sagitar (#5 so far in 2013), Honda Crider (#67) and Citroen C4L (#94), and will be complemented in 2014 by the Kia K4 based on the same platform. Keeping in mind the Elantra Langdong is #14 in 2013 with 190,000 sales and the Sonata is #44 at 96,000 units, in a rare move in China, Hyundai recently announced its sales objectives for the Mistra. They are 10,000 units in 2013 which by the time you read this is already a done deal, and 100,000 over the Full Year 2013. If these numbers seem conservative, that’s because Hyundai always downplays its launches in order to surprise later. I predict at least a Top 30 ranking for the Mistra by the time 2014 comes to an end with sales somewhere between 120,000 to 160,000.

Brilliance H220

The 2nd most popular all-new entrant this month is the Brilliance H220 at #178 with 1,865 sales, the hatchback version of the H230 launched in August 2012 and ranking #93 so far in 2013 but down 79% year-on-year to #215 in November. The H220 is priced between 54.800 and 67.800 yuan (US$ 9,000-11,200), making it one of the cheapest sub-compact hatchbacks in China and Brilliance’s entry vehicle, with its rear looking a tiny bit like the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback. The H220 competes (and undercuts) cars like the Chevrolet Sail and Hyundai Verna hatchbacks. Given how volatile Brilliance models sales are and how unsuccessful in general hatchback variants are in the country, it is very hard to predict how well the H220 will do, but a Top 100 ranking at any point in its career would be a fine achievement.

Peugeot 301

One year ago when Peugeot unveiled the new 301 designed for emerging markets, my reaction was: this is perfect for China. And it’s finally here, appearing at #191 with 1,629 sales for now. The 301 is priced between 84.700 and 116.700 yuan (US$ 13.900-19.200), virtually the same as its twin the new generation Citroen C-Elysee launched in September. The 301 is Peugeot’s first foray into a hugely popular segment in China: small-size sedans, and as such competes with massive best-sellers like the VW Jetta (240,000 sales so far in 2013) and Santana (160,000). If successful, the 301 could be the car to open Pandora’s box for Peugeot in China. The last time a Peugeot ranked inside the Chinese year-end Top 30 was in 2008 with the 307 at #28. So far this year the brand’s best-seller is the 308 at an encouraging #63 and 77,000 sales. In that context, breaking into the monthly Top 50 would be a good start for the 301 and 100,000 annual sales seems within reach if not in 2014 then in 2015.

BAW Beiqi Jeep (this may not be the 2020 series)

The next two all-new entrants are not really ones but more models that have dropped in and out of rankings along the years. the Haima Prince had disappeared from the face of the earth even though it launched back in 2011, it is #270 this month with 182 sales while the BAW Beiqi 2020 Series is a jeep that has been around for ages, landing at #277 and 111 units this month. There is still no trace of the DS5 in the ranking, however I am in touch with Citroen China as we speak so hopefully I will have more info for you shortly. As far as recent launches are concerned, let’s salute the Beijing Weiwang M20 up 23 spots to #129, GAC Trumpchi GA3 up 24 to #145, Gonow Xinglang MPV up 26 to #182, Skoda Yeti up a spectacular 78 ranks to #190 and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport up 47 to #205. Reversely, the Honda Jade takes a break, down 15 spots to #82 and the Chery Arrizo 7 is down 29 to #153.

Previous post (year-to-date): China 11 months 2013: Discover the Top 345 All-models ranking!

Previous post (brands): China November 2013: Now with Top 66 All-brands ranking

Previous post (models): China November 2013: Nissan Sylphy delivers best-ever month for a Japanese model!

Previous month (new models): China October 2013: Focus on the all-new models

Full November 2013 Top 319 All-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

The Wuling Hongguang just passed the VW Lavida to become #1 year-to-date in 2013.

* See the Top 345 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

Now that we’ve gone through November data by models and brands, it’s time to study the year-to-date models ranking in China to extract longer-term trends, as is the tradition on BSCB. The big change this month happens at the very top of the ranking: thanks to a huge month above 60,000 sales, the Wuling Hongguang bypasses the VW Lavida to now rank #1 so far in 2013 with 406,711 sales vs. 400,279 for the Volkswagen. Yes this is the first year any passenger car sells more than 400,000 units in China, and there’s high chances there will be a third one – the Ford Focus, now at 365,341 – by the time the year comes to an end! Add to this the fact that 2013 will remain in the automobile history books as the first year more than 20 million new vehicles found a buyer in any country in the world (yep that’s here in China), and this is turning out to be quite a momentous year for new car sales in China!

The Ford Kuga is the best-selling all-new model so far this year with 86,000 sales.

If we step outside the podium and look into the 2013 Top 30, we find 6 clear winners in terms of progression vs. 2012. Firstly the VW Sagitar, up 41% and 7 spots year-on-year to brilliantly land inside the Top 5 at #5 with 250,519 sales, then the Nissan Sylphy, all glorified from its record-breaking performance this month, selling at almost double the rate as in 2012 and up 22 ranks to #8 and 227,385 units. Another model to double its sales this year is the Haval H6, up 26 spots to #13 with 194,143 sales, earning it the title of best-selling SUV in the country ahead of the VW Tiguan (182,466) and Honda CR-V (181,663). Finally we have the Hyundai Elantra Langdong up 197% to #14, VW Santana up 61% to #21 and Hyundai ix35 up 50% to #24.

ChangAn Eado sales are up 129% year-on-year so far in 2013.

Beyond the Top 30, a few Chinese models are making tsunami-size waves: the Great Wall Haval M4 is up 189% and 64 ranks to #32, the BYD F3 Surui up 323% and 98 spots to #35, Dongfeng Future up 52% and 20 ranks to #39, Roewe 350 up 47% and 18 spots to #42 and Venucia R50/D50 up 187% and 68 ranks to #47. If we go down the ranking, the most impressive progressions are also Chinese: the ChangAn Eado is up 129% and 50 spots to #59, ChangAn Yuexiang V3 up 320% and 99 ranks to #66, ChangAn CS35 up 1848% and 160 spots to #69, Great Wall Voleex C50 up 71% and 31 ranks to #76 and GAC Trumpchi GS5 up 198% and 73 spots to #81.

The Hyundai Santa Fe sold over 65,000 units in 12 months in China.

There are no less than 55 all-new models making their way into the Chinese ranking over the past 12 months. Yep, that’s more than one a week! Talk about a dynamic market. However there is none in the Top 50, with the most popular so far being the Ford Kuga at #54 with 85,993 sales. After just 6 months the Honda Crider ranks 67th at 69,001 units, ahead of the Hyundai Santa Fe at #70 with 66,521 sales, Buick Encore at #85 and 54,350 units, Ford Ecosport at #88 and 52,210 sales, Citroen C4L at #94 and 49,508 units and Peugeot 3008 at #98 and 47,086. That’s a robust 7 new entrants inside the Top 100…

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Full 11 months 2013 Top 345 All-models Ranking Table below.

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