China April 2014: Haval H6 breaks records again in market up 13%

Haval H6 Sport

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 65 brands & Top 312 models! Click on title to see *

Passenger vehicle sales in China are up 13% year-on-year in April to 1.5 million as consumers brought forward purchases in anticipation more cities will implement ownership restrictions to fight pollution and congestion. 6 Chinese cities, the latest being Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, have imposed quotas on new license plates to control the growth in vehicle population as worsening smog led Premier Li Keqiang to declare “war” on pollution. Consumers in Nanjing rushed to buy cars at an auto show on May 1 on concerns that the city will introduce purchase limits. About one car was sold every three minutes during the exhibition and sales surged by as much as 40% in April at some dealerships.

The VW Sagitar breaks its all-time monthly volume record in China this month.

Brand-wise, Mercedes is up 38%, Ford up 29%, Volkswagen up 28%, Audi up 17%, Chevrolet up 6% (the slowest pace in 14 months), Toyota up 12% and Nissan up 15% while Honda is down 4%. The brands ranking displayed below has slightly different figures, simply because the official data that gets published by the CAAM excludes imports which still account for a large part of Mercedes sales for example. Industrywide deliveries in China are forecast to increase as much as 10% in 2014 vs. 14% on 2013 as anti-pollution and austerity campaigns spread. As an aside, the collective market share for Chinese brands slumped for an 8th straight month in April, down 2.5 percentage points from a year earlier to 37.1%.

Thanks to its facelift, the BYD F3 is back inside the Top 40.

In the models ranking, the podium is unchanged on March and year-to-date with the Wuling Hongguang up a gigantic 92% year-on-year to just above 60,000 sales, ahead of the VW Lavida (+42%) and Ford Focus (+11%). The Nissan Sylphy brilliantly takes the 4th spot thanks to sales up 47% on April 2013, while the VW Sagitar lodges its best-ever monthly volume at 27,847 units in 5th place. The Haval H6 delivers the unbelievable feat of breaking its monthly volume record for the 9th time in the last 10 months at 26,372 sales and hits a record #7 spot, also reached last July.

The new model pushes the Nissan X-Trail up 1000% year-on-year!

Beyond the Top 10, the VW Tiguan is up a massive 61% on April 2013 to #13 with 21,206 sales, the VW Golf smashes its monthly result at 19,116 units, up 112% year-on-year, the Kia K3 takes off 13 spots on March to #22 with a record 15,119 sales, the Toyota Vios is up two ranks to #24, the ChangAn Eado is up 70% year-on-year to become the #3 best-selling Chinese model at #27, the new generation Citroen C-Elysée exactly doubles the nameplate’s sales vs. April 2013 and the Hyundai Mistra is back up 8 spots on last month to a best-ever #36, a ranking it also reached last January.

The Zotye T600 explores new heights each month in China. In April: #123.

Thanks to its facelift, the BYD F3 is up 44 ranks on March to #39 with 10,528 sales, the ChangAn CS35 is up 60% year-on-year to #44, the new generation Ford Mondeo breaks into the Chinese Top 50 for the first time at #45 and the new model boosts the Nissan X-Trail up a magnificent 74 spots on March and 1000% year-on-year to #46 and 9,130 units. Further down, the Chery Tiggo 5 is up 22 ranks to a best-ever #56, the Peugeot 301 is up 12 to #64, the Zotye T600 continues to climb the ladder: up another 21 spots to #123, the Skoda Rapid Spaceback is up 70 ranks to #175 for its 2nd month in market and the Qoros 3 is up 20 to a still very shy #247.

Previous post: China March 2014: Now updated with LCV data!

Previous month: China March 2014: VW Jetta and ChangAn Honor hit records, Fiat sparks

One year ago: China April 2013: Honda CR-V up to #4, Nissan Teana takes off

Full April 2014 Top 65 brands and Top 312 models Ranking Tables below.