Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

VW Lavida

* See the Top 289 All-models and Top 64 All-brands rankings by clicking on the title! *

Finally Chinese models data for January is in, and it’s a whopper month indeed: up 46% on January 2012 now that Japanese carmakers are back in shape. The biggest event this month is the unreal level reached by the VW Lavida, now taking full advantage of the new generation and up to an incredible 48,267 sales in just one month. This is almost 10,000 units above the previous Passenger Car monthly volume record of 38,362 sales detained by the Ford Focus last November, and the first time a Passenger Car sells upwards of 40,000 units in a single month. In fact in January 15 models sold over 20,000 units and 44 sold over 10,000, which are new records to be compared to just 9 and 27 respectively in the USA during the same month…

Hyundai Verna

The Ford Focus is down to #2 with a still excellent 33,632 sales, while the Buick Excelle doubles its December figure to pass the 30,000 monthly unit-milestone for the first time at 30,264 sales, becoming the 6th model to have reached  that level after the BYD F3, VW Passat, Lavida, Chevrolet Sail and Ford Focus. The VW Sagitar is down one spot to #6 but breaks its monthly record at 26,184 units while the Hyundai Verna is up 10 to a best-ever #7 and 25,684 sales, its very first time above 20,000 monthly units.

Chery QQ

Plenty more records fall: the Nissan Sylphy at 24,769 sales, Buick Excelle XT/GT at 23,694 and Hyundai Elantra Langdong at 22,177 all pass the 20,000 sales mark for the first time while the Chevrolet Cruze (24,477) and VW Tiguan (21,818) both beat their monthly record. It is also a good month for locals: the Chery QQ leads the way at #16 with 18,622 sales, its 2nd best-ever monthly result below the 19,983 units from January 2010, while two of its direct followers beat their monthly record: the Emgrand EC7 is #17 with 18,516 sales and the Great Wall Haval H6 is #22 at 16,621 units, with the Great Wall Voleex C30 in between at #19.

Peugeot 3008

Notice also the Audi A6L nearly doubling its sales year-on-year to a record 16,706 units (#21), DongFeng Future up 25 spots to a best-ever #35, Great Wall Haval M4 up 8 to a record #40, Venucia R50/D50 up 9 to a best-ever #41, all 3 models passing the 10,000 monthly unit-benchmark for the first time, the Lifan X60 breaking into the Top 50 for the first time at #48 (+54), the Buick Encore up 51 to #65, ChangAn CS35 up 46 to break into the Top 100 for the first time at #92 and the Peugeot 3008 landing directly at #99 with 5,196 sales for its first month in market.

Lifan 720

Further down, we welcome a few other newcomers in the ranking this month: the Citroen C4L lands at #110 with 4,355 units, the Mitsubishi ASX is #164 with 2,017 sales, Lifan 720 #210 at 593 units, Lifan 530 #239 with 196 sales and Luxgen Master CEO #267 at 32 units.

Previous post: China Full Year 2012: Ford Focus triumphs

Previous month: China December 2012: New generation VW Jetta up to #2

One year ago: China January 2012: Huge month for the VW Passat

Full January 2013 Top 289 All- models and Top 64 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

The Wuling Sunshine is the most popular vehicle in China in 2012

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Light Commercial Vehicles market is up just 1% year-on-year in China in 2012 to 4,957,019 registrations (pushing the total market to just under 20 million units, a record) and the Wuling Sunshine is the most popular LCV in the country for at least the third year in a row in spite of sales down a worrying 28% on 2011 to 523,841 units. In fact the LCV podium is unchanged on 2011 with the Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang taking the 2nd spot with 372,199 sales (-3%) and the Foton Forland at #3 and 346,767 units (-7%). The Wuling Hongguang made its first entrance in the LCV Top 5 in February and never looked back, even ranking #2 for 3 of the last 5 months of the year. It finishes 2012 at #4 with 316,237 sales.

The Ford Focus is the #1 Passenger Car in China in 2012 but #5 overall

Now that both LCV and Passenger Cars figures are in for China, I can share with you a 2012 Top 10 All vehicles ranking for China exclusive to BestSellingCarsBlog. And even though the Ford Focus made its way to #2 overall in November and December thanks to outstanding sales figures, over the Full Year it is clear that Chinese consumers are more fond of Commercial Vehicles than Passenger Cars, with the Top 4 most popular vehicles in the country this year being all LCVs (vs. Top 3 in 2011).

The VW Jetta is #10 overall in China in 2012

The Wuling Sunshine, Rongguang/Xingwang, Foton Forland and Wuling Hongguang dominate and are the only vehicles to sell above 300,000 units this year, while the Ford Focus ranks #5 with 296,360 sales (a new record for a Passenger Car), up 57% and 9 spots on 2011. It is followed by the ChangAn Mini Bus at #6, Chevrolet Sail at #7, Buick Excelle at #8, VW Lavida at #9 and VW Jetta at #10.

Previous post: China LCV December 2012: Wuling Hongguang back to #2

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

Full Year 2012 Top 5 LCV and Top 10 All-vehicles Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

Wuling Hongguang

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

The Chinese Light Commercial Vehicle market is up an encouraging 9% year-on-year in December to 456,350 registrations, enabling the Year-end total for 2012 to finish up 1% on 2011 at 4,957,019 units. For a bit of perspective, if the Chinese LCV market was a country it would rank #3 in the world behind only China and the USA… That’s how many vans the Chinese buy each year! No surprise at #1: the Wuling Sunshine holds the top spot for 25th consecutive month with 40,773 sales, albeit down 33% on December 2011.

This figure is to be compared with the 68,787 Ford F-Series sold in the USA in the same period and the 22,698 VW Golf sold in the whole of Europe… The Wuling Hongguang is back up to #2 for the third time in the last 5 months at 32,807 units, just above the Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang, making the podium 100% Wuling for the 4th time this year.

Previous month: China LCV November 2012: ChangAn Mini Bus above 30,000 sales

One year ago: China LCV Full Year 2011: Wuling Sunshine sovereign again

Full December 2012 Top 5 LCV and Top 10 overall models Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

Ford Focus

* See the Top 304 all-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

The Chinese new Passenger Vehicle market slows down its growth in 2012 to a still very respectable 6% year-on-year to 14,682,215 units. The models pole position changes hands for the third consecutive year: after the BYD F3 in 2010 and the Buick Excelle in 2011, the Ford Focus brilliantly takes the lead in 2012 with 296,360 sales, up 57% on 2011. The Focus led the monthly ranking for 6 of the last 7 months of the year and hit an all-time monthly record of 38,362 units in November. Its annual total is also a new all-time record for any model in China, beating the 291,010 units sold by the BYD F3 in 2009. In fact the Focus wasn’t #1 in the Year-to-date ranking until December, with the Buick Excelle, up 9% year-on-year but down to #3, leading most of the year.

Chevrolet Sail

The Chevrolet Sail also delivers a fantastic performance, up 41% to 279,740 sales. Before 2012, only the BYD F3 had managed to ever sell over 30,000 monthly units. This year 4 models did this for the first time: the VW Passat (up 41% to #6 in the Full Year) passed that milestone in January, the Chevrolet Sail in May, Ford Focus in September and VW Lavida in November. One of the biggest events of the year in China was the impact the tensions with Japan over the Denku islands had over Chinese car sales, with all but one Japanese model kicked out of the Top 50 in October.

VW Magotan

Other great performers atop the Chinese ranking this year include the Hyundai Verna up 46% to #10, VW Sagitar up 54% to #11, VW Magotan up 93% to #12, Buick Excelle XT/GT up 29% to #13, VW Tiguan up 34% to #14, Nissan Tiida up 31% to #20, Kia K2 up 145% to #22, Audi A6L up 23% to #23, BMW 5 Series L up 65% to #36 and Audi Q5 up 54% to #46.

Emgrand EC7

Progressing through the ranking all year, the Emgrand EC7 takes the title of most popular local Passenger Car in 2012, up 52% and 26 spots to #17 with 146,516 sales and breaking into the monthly Top 10 for the first time in December. It was however a disappointing year for Chinese models: the FAW Xiali N3/N5 is down 26% to #19, Chery QQ down 5% to #21, Great Wall Voleex C30 down 4% to #27 and BYD F3 down 32% to #30. The Great Wall Haval H6 led the local charts for most of the year and finishes 2012 at #33 with 112,262 units for its first full year in market.

Great Wall Haval M4

A testament to how dynamic the Chinese market is, there are no less than 43 all-new models in the ranking in 2012. The Hyundai Elantra Langdong leads the charge at #54 with 80,460 sales, peaking at #8 in December, followed by the Chevrolet Malibu at #87, Great Wall Haval M4 at #92 and Great Wall Voleex C50 at #100. Notice also new low-cost Nissan brand Venucia placing the R50/50 at #108, the BYD F3 Surui (new generation) at #109, Zotye Z300 at #141, Brilliance H230 at #159, low cost model Ciimo Si Ming at #181, Fiat Viaggio at #192 and plug-in hybrid Roewe E50 at #291.

Previous post: China December 2012: New generation VW Jetta up to #2

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

Full Year 2012 Top 304 all-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

VW Jetta

* See the Top 286 all-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

* See the Full Year 2012 post here *

It is now a fact: the Ford Focus is the most popular Passenger Car in China, topping the monthly ranking by far for the 5th month in a row and the 6th time in the last 7 months with an enormous 36,868 sales, its 2nd highest monthly volume after the 38,362 units it sold in November. This brings the Focus to #1 in the Full Year ranking at 296,630 sales. In second place, now boosted by the 2nd generation of the model (the first substantial change in the last 20 years!), the VW Jetta is up 8 spots on November to 24,056 units, and is followed by the Chevrolet Sail at 21,114 sales and the VW Sagitar robust again at 19,042 units.

Nissan Sylphy

After struggling for the last 3 months as a result of China-Japan tensions, Japanese brands are back in the game in December: the Honda CR-V is up 18 ranks to #6 at 18,977 units, its 2nd highest ranking after the #4 it hit last March, the Nissan Sylphy is up 22 to a best-ever #7 with 18,610 sales, the Toyota Corolla EX up 19 to #16, Toyota Corolla up 14 to #23 and the Toyota Camry up 7 to #24.

Emgrand EC7

Two models break into the Chinese Top 10 for the first time this month: the Hyundai Elantra Langdong (new generation) is up 4 spots to a record #8 at 16,487 units and the Emgrand EC7 is up 5 ranks to #10 with 15,977 sales. This is the first time since last April when the Great Wall Haval H3, H5 and H6 were still counted together that a Chinese model manages to rank within the Top 10 at home. The EC7 is followed by the Great Wall Haval H6 reaching a best-ever #13, the Great Wall Voleex C30 at its highest since last February (#14) and the Chery QQ (#15) while the new gen BYD F3 Surui is up a healthy 7 ranks on last month to a record #25 with 12,084 units and the BYD L3 is also up 7 to beat its ranking and volume records as well at #26 and 12,017 sales.

BYD L3

Other great performers this month include the Hyundai ix35 up a further one spot to #19, the Kia K3 solid at #30 and a best-ever 11,131 units, the Chery Fulwin 2 back up 80 ranks to #39, the Hyundai Santa Fe landing directly at #64 with 7,000 sales for its first month in market, the Soueast V5 Lingzhi up 40 to #69 and the Mercedes E-Klasse L up 64 to #87. Notice also the Fiat Viaggio down 10 spots to #115 and the Buick Encore arriving at #116 with 3,990 units.

Full Year post: China Full Year 2012: Ford Focus triumphs

Previous month: China November 2012: Ford Focus and VW Lavida to record heights

One year ago: China December 2011: Honda Accord and Great Wall Haval impress

Full December 2012 Top 286 All-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

ChangAn Taurus

* See the Top 5 best-selling LCV and Top 10 best-sellers overall by clicking on the title! *

In November the Chinese Light Commercial Vehicle market is up 3% year-on-year to 432,096 registrations, now making the year-to-date total even with the same period in 2011 at 4,500,669 units. No surprises on pole position: the Wuling Sunshine leads but with sales down a worrying 38% to 40,475 units. Its year-to-date cumulative sales now stand at 483,068, down 28% on 2011. These figures are to in-between with the 56,299 Ford F-Series sold in the US and the 35,473 VW Golf sold all over Europe in November.

The ChangAn Mini Bus is the star of the month, up 3 spots on October to land in 2nd place for the second time this year after last June with 30,632 sales (-2%). It is however still #5 year-to-date at 256,608 units. #2 last month, the Wuling Hongguang takes a breather and is down to #5 at 24,752 sales in November. Note that with a record 38,362 sales (+138% year-on-year!), the Ford Focus is now #2 model in the overall ranking, only 2,000 units below the Wuling Sunshine…

Previous month: China LCV October 2012: Wuling Hongguang smashes record

One year ago: China LCV November 2011: Wuling Sunshine up 40% year-on-year

Full November 2012 LCV Top 5 and overall Top 10 models Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

The Chery QQme sold its first 4 units for 2012 in China in November.

* See the Top 294 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

As is now the tradition on BSCB, after looking at the best-sellers in November in China, we delve into the year-to-date models ranking a little deeper to extract longer term trends. And there is lots of change in the year-to-date ranking this month given the extraordinary performances of the Ford Focus and VW Lavida. The Buick Excelle may be living its last days in pole position: at 261,240 sales after 11 months (+9%), it is now only 1,748 units above the Ford Focus at 259,492 (+51%), jumping from #4 after 10 months to #2 at end-November. Given the Focus had a massive 14,981 sales advantage over the Excelle in November only, the logic would say that the Focus should pass the Excelle to become China’s top seller in 2012 by the time the year comes to an end…

Kia K2

The Chevrolet Sail mechanically drops to #3 at 258,626 sales, but still up a shiny 44% on 2011. It is now followed by the VW Lavida up 2 ranks to #4 at 226,651 units and back into positive territory vs. 2011 at +1%. The VW Passat is #5 (+44%) while the Hyundai Verna is up a magnificent 48% year-on-year at #10. Other great gainers further down the ranking include the VW Sagitar up 52% to #11, the VW Magotan up 98% to #14, the Emgrand EC7 up 51% to #20 and the Kia K2 up 179% to #22.

Great Wall Haval M4

Illustrating how fantastically dynamic the Chinese passenger car market is, no less than 42 locally produced models have made their appearance in the ranking over the last 12 months! That’s nearly one each week… and 34 of them are Chinese which is encouraging for the local industry. Now that the Great Wall Haval H6 is not an all-new model anymore, the title of best newcomer goes to the Hyundai Elantra Langdong at #61 with 63,973 sales after just 4 months (and #12 in November), followed by the Chevrolet Malibu at #88, the Great Wall Haval M4 at #95, Great Wall Voleex C50 at #106 and ChangAn Eado at #108.

The ChangAn Raeton is new to China this month. Did I hear anyone say Toyota Aurion?

Notice also the Venucia R50/D50 at #116, the BYD F3 Surui at #132 and the Fiat Viaggio at #203. New for this month are the ChangAn Raeton at #291 with 31 sales, the Chery QQme at #293 at 4 units and the Jinbei S50 at #294 with 3 sales…

Previous post: China November 2012: Ford Focus and VW Lavida to record heights

Previous month: China 10 months 2012: Discover the Top 290 All-models ranking!

One year ago: China November 2011: Great Wall Haval up to best-ever #7

Full 11 months 2012 Top 294 All-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Ford Focus

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 285 All-models ranking! Click on title to see *

Sales of passenger cars in China are up 13% year-on-year in November to 1.419 million units, equalling the growth rate of the US. The year-to-date total now stands at 13.12 million, up 7% on 2011. These are China Passenger Car Association figures. Japanese manufacturers see their decline ease compared to September and October, with Toyota at -25%, Honda at -29% and Mazda at -30%. In the meantime, Ford is up a spectacular 56% and Chinese brands manage to grab 35.1% of the overall market, their highest penetration rate in 20 years!

VW Lavida 

Firstly let’s salute the exceptional performance of the Ford Focus, #1 for the 4th month in a row and the 5th time in the last 6 months, and smashing its volume record again at 38,362 sales. This could even be the highest monthly volume ever for any Passenger Car in China with the only other model to reach similar levels being the BYD F3 at 36,046 units in March 2010. However I do not have 2009 monthly figures for the F3 and it may have hit higher ground back then. To be noted, Focus figures include the previous generation still sold in the country as ‘Focus Classic’. The Focus is now #2 year-to-date only 1,748 units below the Buick Excelle and it should edge past it next month to finish 2012 in pole position.

VW Sagitar

The VW Lavida also lodges a second record month in a row now that the new model is well and truly established with 31,397 sales, the nameplate’s 2nd time ever above 30,000 monthly units with last month. It is now #4 year-to-date. The Chevrolet Sail is back on the podium with a solid 26,143 sales, followed by the VW Passat extremely robust again at 23,197 units, the Buick Excelle weak at 23,381 and the VW Sagitar at a record 22,886 units. The new gen Hyundai Elantra Langdong drops one spot to #11 but improves to a best-ever 18,910 sales.

Chery QQ3

For the first time since last May, the Chery QQ is the best-selling Chinese model this month thanks to the new model, up 9 spots to #14 with 16,670 sales, its highest ranking in its native country since April 2011 and its strongest monthly volume since… January 2010! It is followed very closely by the Emgrand EC7, stable at #15 and a record 16,568 units. The Great Wall H6 stays #18 and also breaks its volume record again at 15,120 while the Great Wall Voleex C30 is up 8 ranks to #19. The FAW Xiali N3/N5, #25 this month, remains #1 year-to-date at #18.

Venucia R50

Notice also the Hyundai ix35 up one spot to break into the Chinese Top 20 for the first time at #20, the Kia K3 up a spectacular 33 ranks to #30 with 10,313 sales for its 2nd month in market, the BYD F3 Surui (new gen) also cracking the 10,000 monthly units mark at 10,126 but down one spot to #32 and the Venucia R50/D50 up a massive 67 ranks to #46 with 8,047 units (59% R50 already). The Japanese are quietly back, with 6 models in the Top 40 vs. just one last month: the Honda CR-V (#24), Nissan Sylphy (#29), Toyota Camry (#51), Corolla EX (#35), Corolla (#37) and Nissan Teana (#39).

Fiat Viaggio

Finally, there is a very significant newcomer in the Chinese ranking this month: the Fiat Viaggio. Consistent with my latest Chinese Viaggio sales update, GAC official numbers (thanks Jeff!) say 4,075 units sold in November, placing the model in 105th position and bringing its year-to-date total to 7,193. Note Chooseauto.com.cn, my source for monthly Chinese figures, did a catch-up on Viaggio sales directly to 7,193 year-to-date so all records are now up-to-date and we’re going to be able to follow very closely the career of the first Italian manufactured in China in 10 years (since the Fiat Palio in 2002).

Previous post: China: Fiat 6,000 Viaggio sold since mid-September

Previous month: China October 2012: Ford Focus #1, only one Japanese in Top 50!

Previous year-to-date update: China 10 months 2012: Discover the Top 290 All-models ranking

One year ago: Great Wall Haval up to best-ever #7

Full November 2012 Top 285 All-models Ranking Table below.

Wuling Hongguang

* See the Top 5 best-selling LCVs and Top 10 best-sellers overall by clicking on the title! *

The Chinese new Light Commercial Vehicle market confirms it is back in shape in October, up 9% year-on-year to 411,693 units, bringing the year-to-date total to 4,068,573 sales, now down just 1% on 2011. For the 23rd month in a row, the Wuling Sunshine is the best-selling LCV and vehicle in China with 44,448 sales, still down a steep 28% year-on-year however and down 27% year-to-date at 442,593 units. For comparison, Volkswagen sold 33,156 Golf in the whole of Europe at the same time (and 373,036 year-to-date) and Ford sold 56,497 F-Series in the USA and 520,230 year-to-date.

Wuling Hongguang

In 2nd place both of the LCV and overall vehicle ranking this month we find the Wuling Hongguang, smashing its monthly volume record for the third consecutive time at 34,220 sales. It is however still #4 year-to-date at 258,678 units below the Wuling Rongguang/Xingwang at 312,093 and the Foton Forland at 292,110. In the overall all-vehicles ranking including passenger cars, Wuling monopolises the Top 2 but the Ford Focus comes #3 with a record 33,614 sales (up 130% year-on-year!) followed by the VW Lavida at a record 30,697 units (+33%), meaning 3 of the Top 4 best-sellers in China this month beat their monthly record.

Previous post: China: 6,000 Fiat Viaggio sold since mid-September

Previous month: China LCV September 2012: Wuling monopolises podium again

One year ago: China LCV October 2011: Wuling Sunshine above 60,000 units

Previous Passenger Car post: China 10 months 2012: Discover the Top 290 models ranking!

Previous Passenger Car month: China October 2012: Ford Focus #1, only one Japanese in Top 50

Full October LCV Top 5 and overall Top 10 Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

Fiat Viaggio

* See the source for this article by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Rosario *

I know a lot of you have been asking for Chinese sales figures for the Fiat Viaggo, given local production started in June and sales in mid-September. Until today no data was available as it seems GAC-Fiat would not communicate anything to Chooseauto which is my source for monthly sales in China. Yesterday however, Italian website Quattroruote.it published a very positive article about the Viaggio’s Chinese sales, quoting Jack Chang – Managing Director of the GAC-Fiat joint venture.

And for the first time Viaggio sales in China are revealed to be 6,000 so far since launch, with the production level currently at 200 per day. Chang says Fiat is now aiming at selling 15,000 units by the end of the year in the 110 Fiat dealerships across the country. Now are these figures strong? The article raves about them but let’s have a closer look and put them into perspective…

Current China post: China October 2012: Ford Focus #1, only one Japanese in Top 50!

One year ago: China October 2011: Baojun 630 and Brilliance H530 take off

See the rest of the article below.

Read more…