China: Discover the best-selling models by province (BSCB Exclusive)

The VW Jetta is #1 in six Chinese provinces in 2014, including Jilin (above).

Today and for the first time on BSCB we are able to share with you the five best-selling nameplates for each and every one of China’s 31 provinces. As detailed during my various travels across the country, the most popular models vary wildly based on where you are located in China. Now we have the official data behind these observations. Note these rankings excludes commercial vehicles and vehicles assimilated as such like, unfortunately, the Wuling Hongguang. Passenger MPVs, SUVs and sedans are however included, covering the vast majority of the market.

The Nissan Sylphy tops four provinces. 

Provinces are ranked by sales volume over the Full Year 2014: Shandong (Capital Jinan) is the largest market in China with 1.48 million sales, followed by Guangdong (Capital Guangzhou) at 1.44m and Jiangsu (Capital Nanjing) at 1.4m. Being municipality-provinces, Beijing (#15 at 410.000 sales), Chongqing (#16 at 370k), Shanghai (#24 at 250k) and Tianjin (#27 at 160k) actually rank relatively low and weigh surprisingly light in the national rankings. Chongqing (+38%), Hubei (+28%), Guangdong (+26%), Sichuan (+25%) and Qinghai (+25%) are the most dynamic provinces, whereas Tianjin (-51%), Jiangxi (-17%), Inner Mongolia (-6%), Beijing (-5%) and Shanghai (-2%) are the only five provinces showing a negative year-on-year evolution in 2014.

The detail for each province shows total 2014 sales, year-on-year evolution, total population capital and geographic location, plus the five best-selling nameplates and year-on-year evolution as follows, for example in Jiangxi:

The FAW Besturn X80 is #3 in Ningxia

Volkswagen is the obvious winner at the province game with 15 wins, followed by Ford with five province wins, Nissan with four, Haval with two and Chevrolet, Hyundai, Citroen, Audi and Changfeng with one each. Only six nameplates manage to win more than one province: interestingly, the most crowned nameplate is the VW Jetta with six province wins, ahead of the VW Lavida and Ford Focus (five each), Nissan Sylphy (four), VW Santana (three) and Haval H6 (two). Note the Nissan Sylphy posts the highest single-province volume by far at 73.000 sales in Guangdong, followed by the Ford Focus (57.000 in Jiangsu) and VW Lavida (49.000 in Jiangsu where it ranks #2).

The Audi A6 is the outright best-seller in Shanghai. Picture bitauto.com

The single province winners tell a fascinating story: the Chevrolet Sail leads the largest market of the entire country in Shandong, the Hyundai Verna is the favourite choice in Hebei near its production hub in Beijing, the Citroen C-Elysée is No.1 “at home” in Hubei where it is assembled, the Audi A6 stuns with a Beijing win – overtaking the VW Magotan there, and last but not least, the Changfeng Leopaard Black Edition – a rebadged Mitsubishi Pajero assembled under license – tops a completely atypical Tibetan market where the five best-sellers are all SUVs.

The Changfeng Leopaard Black Edition is the best-selling vehicle in Tibet. Picture cheshi.com

Chinese nameplates are relatively rare in these rankings: in addition to the models mentioned above, the BYD F3 ranks third in Shaanxi, the Chongqing market is faithful to its homeland fare, putting both the ChangAn Eado and CS35 inside its Top 5, the FAW Besturn B50 is 4th at home in Jilin as I detailed in my local Photo Report earlier this year,  the FAW Besturn X80 is third in Ningxia and the FAW Xiali N3 #4 in Qinghai. Finally, another observation finding root in official sales: the Buick GL8 arriving in 2nd place in Shanghai. All the rankings are below.

Full Year 2014 Top 5 best-sellers for each 31 Chinese Province below.