China June 2013: Focus on the all-new models

* See the Top 306 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

Last month I inaugurated a new series on BSCB, focusing on the all-new models entering the Chinese ranking. And just when I start this new series there are only 2 all-new entries in June in China… Classic. That’s fine, because today we will also follow the progression of the models that appeared last month. Remember these will always be models manufactured in China as imports data is unavailable for now. If last month the most successful all-new entrant (the VW Gran Lavida) landed at #157, in June the Honda Crider does much better and appears at #125 with 3,107 sales. Honda what? I hear you ask, and that’s exactly why I created this series.

The Honda Crider is a medium-sized sedan slotted in-between the Civic and Accord in the Honda range, produced solely in China through the Guangqi Honda joint-venture and starts at US$18,675. The Crider is set for mass-production, so we should see it climb up the ranking pretty fast, but up to where is hard to predict. This category is hit and miss for Japanese manufacturers in China, with larger models traditionally doing better. The relatively bold design (supposedly inspired by a dragon) should limit its potential to the east coast of the country where the market is very competitive. For reference, the Accord currently stands at #46 YTD while the Civic is at #73 but up to #55 in June. A long-term spot in the Top 50 for the Crider should make Honda happy.

Luxgen 5 Sedan

The only other all-new model is originally from Taiwan: the Luxgen 5 Sedan has had some pretty good results in its home country so far, hitting #10 there last December. It appears in China this month in 257th position with 139 sales. The launch of the 5 Sedan in China completes the Luxgen offer with absolutely all existing models now in production locally. Luxgen has struggled so far though, with its best score delivered by the 7 SUV at #132 over the Full Year 2012. It is #165 so far in 2013, while the Master CEO and 7 MPV lag at #274 and #275 respectively. So no big expectations for the 5 Sedan, breaking into the Top 200 sometime in the next few months will be a good start.

VW Gran Lavida

Now onto the all-new entrants from last month. I have mentioned it already in my overall June article, the VW Gran Lavida is once again by far the best performer, literally taking off this month: it tripled its May result and gained 91 spots to reach an excellent 66th position at 6,122 units. A very interesting performance indeed as China does not have a tradition of buying station wagons en masse. This should spark a few ideas for carmakers strong in this segment. Did I just hear someone say Chinese-owned Volvo? 🙂

Dongfeng Fengguang

After a weak start at #242 and 308 sales last month, the Dongfeng Fengguang multiples its score by 5 and gains 62 ranks to hit #180 and 1,539 units, more in proportion with other successful Dongfeng MPVs the Future (#52), Joyear (#107) and Shuai (#131). Next step: the Top 100? The Beijing Senova also improves markedly on its first month: up 94% and 26 ranks to #199. Reversely, the BAW (Beijing) 007 is already down 90% to #287 while the Hongqi H7 has disappeared from the ranking altogether…

June overall post: China June 2013: Ford Focus leads, Great Wall Haval M4 up

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

Full June 2013 Top 306 All-models Ranking Table below.