China May 2014: VW Santana breaks record in market up 8%

VW Santana

* See the Top 327 All-local models and Top 64 brands by clicking on the title! *

Still no sign of slowing down for the Chinese new car market, with May up another 8.5% to 1.91 million units across all segments, bringing the year-to-date total to 9.84 million units, up 9% on 2013. China Manufacturers Association CAAM tables on a 10% increase this year that would bring the overall market to an out-of-this-word 24 million units by end 2014, and we are in line with this projection after 5 months. Passenger cars are up a strong 14% to 1.59 million, Commercial vehicles are down 12% to 320,800. Among passenger cars, sedans are up 7%, SUVs up 40% and MPVs up 54%.

The ChangAn Eado is the best-selling Chinese Passenger Car (ex- SUV and MPV) at #26.

The Wuling Hongguang continues to dominate the models sales charts thanks to exceptional penetration rates in rural areas, up a huge 85% on May 2013 to 50,333 sales and adding up to 320,451 units so far in 2014, a record for any Passenger car in the history of automobile in China. In fact this month the Top 7 best-sellers are identical to the year-to-date ranking: the VW Lavida is up 23% year-on-year to 37,557 sales, the Ford Focus up 22% to 33,341, the VW Santana up a massive 276% thanks to the new generation to an all-time high 28,440 units, the VW Sagitar up 13% to #5, VW Jetta up 61% to #6 and the Buick Excelle up just 3% to #7.

The new generation Nissan X-Trail definitely stroke a chord with Chinese buyers: +740%.

The Haval H6 pauses its unstoppable race to the top this month at 24,404 sales and #8 (+56%): only the 2nd time in the past 11 months that it doesn’t break its monthly volume record! Talk about being regular at the top… The VW Bora (#10), Passat (#11) and Tiguan (#13) make it an incredible 7 Volkswagens in the Top 13. Volkswagen’s domination in the hatchback/sedan market is such that it places 6 models in the Top 9 this month, all above 21,500 sales!

The Peugeot 2008 is up 171% on April to #107.

Further down, the Honda Crider is back inside the Top 20 for the first time this year at #19, the Toyota RAV4 is up 16 spots on April and 92% year-on-year to #25, the ChangAn Eado continues to impress: up 81% to #26 and #3 Chinese with 12,991 sales and the BYD F3 is back in the game thanks to its facelift: up 91% to #31 and 11,590 units vs. #61 year-to-date, the nameplate’s strongest monthly score since March 2012 after reaching a low of 2,662 units last February. The Nissan X-Trail is up a further 11 ranks to #35 vs. #95 YTD and the Audi Q3 is up 39 to #51.

ChangAn CS75

Among recent launches, we have a lot of very interesting movement this month. Launched last month, the Chevrolet Trax is up 187% and 81 spots to break into the Top 100 at #88 with 5,293 sales, to be compared with #71 and 6,500 units for its twin the Buick Encore, released over a year ago. The Peugeot 2008 for its part is up an equally impressive 171% and 67 ranks to land at #107 with 4,510 sales, now the brand’s 5th best-seller below the 308 (#52), 301 (#73), 3008 (#83) and 408 (#93). The Top 100 could be for next month…

ZX Auto (Zhongxing) C3 Urban Ark

Also launched last April, the Haima S5 is a little more shy: up 7% and 4 spots to #135, while the DS5 LS is up 19% and 16 ranks to #172. First ‘real’ month of sales for the Audi A3, shooting up to #156 with 2,354 sales, while the ChangAn CS75 also takes off at +420% and 86 spots to #167, as does the Zhongxing C3 Urban Ark up 95 ranks on last month to #187. Finally the Qoros 3 remains extremely discreet and vastly below expectations at #231 with just 641 sales.

There are 4 all-new models making their first appearance in the Chinese ranking this month, and these are described in detailed in China May 2014: Focus on the all-new models.

Previous post: Strategy: How can Chinese brands unlock their home market? (Part 4)

Previous month: China April 2014: Now updated with Top 10 LCVs

One month ago: China April 2014: Haval H6 breaks records in market up 13%

One year ago: China May 2013: VW Lavida leads, Ford Ecosport up

Full May 2014 Top 327 All-local models and Top 64 brands Ranking Table below.