China February 2016: Focus on the all-new models

Zotye SR7: looks familiar?

After exploring February sales figures in detail, the BSCB tradition is to study the all-new China-made nameplates making their first appearance in the sales charts this month. Occupied with the Lunar New Year falling at the start of the month this year, car manufacturers slow down their release schedule and as a result we only have three new entrants in the ranking this month vs. 4 in January and 9 in December.

1. Zotye SR7 (#178 with 1.536 sales)

Chinese carmaker Zotye is on a roll the moment, with no less than five new launches in the past six months. The Daimai X5 SUV, launched in September, has already hit 10.000 monthly sales. The microcar E30 in December and the Z700 followed last month, with two additional new nameplates for February. The first is the SR7 crossover. With it, Zotye sinks even further in the murky waters of copycat. The T600 copied the Audi Q5 and the Damai X5 the VW Tiguan, but the S57 goes even further and is an almost identical version of the Audi Q3.

That’s why: with its “inspiration” the Audi Q3.

Credit is due to Zotye however for managing a third crossover in record time. But this is where the confusion continues: just as the Damai X5 was only 4mm shorter than the T600 at 4527mm long, the SR7 is once again sized very similarly at 4510mm long, and is also priced similarly to its two counterparts: between 73.800 and 106.800 yuan (US$11.400 – 16.500) vs. 73.800-108.900 for the Damai X5 and 79.800-115.800 for the T600. Zotye therefore finds itself with three similarly sized and priced crossover. In such a gigantic market as China, this is not so much of a predicament to be in, so long as the three offers are well differentiated, which is the case. The T600 is the robust option, the Damai X5 the classy one and the SR7 the sporty one. So far so good. Sales figures will now tell the real story.

Zotye SR7 interior

Like Zotye’s other two crossover offerings, the SR7 is powered by a 1.5L turbo engine (the T600 also gets a 2.0L), this time mated with a choice of 5MT or DCT gearboxes. Zotye has pulled all stops with the interior, featuring an imposing 12 inch touch screen that would be at home in a Tesla Model S.

Bar for success: #70 or 8.000 monthly sales

2. Zotye E200 (#285 with 214 units)

After the E30 last December, this is the second Zotye pure-electric microcar unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2015 to hit the Chinese sales charts. Like its predecessor, the micro car’s electric motor only pushes 24hp of a top speed of “at least 80km/h”: in order to benefit from green-car subsidies, a car must qualify as a ‘real’ electric car, not an LSEV mini car, and to do so must drive at at least 80km/h. Built in Yongkang, Zhejiang, the E200 comes in two versions, as a two or four-seater. Once again Zotye disorients with its naming choice, the E200 sitting next to the E30.

Bar for success: #200 or 1.500 monthly sales

3. ChangAn CX70 (#317 with 72 deliveries)

Chinese customers can’t get enough SUVs: Chinese carmakers keep churning new SUVs month after month. Simple enough. Naming rules seem to be harder to follow though: the new ChangAn CX70 slots between the hugely successful CS35 and CS75, yet sports an X. It is manufactured by the minivan arm of ChangAn (Chana) as shown by the logo on its grille, yet sports giant ChangAn letters on the back. It gets more confusing: at 4680mm long, it is actually longer than the CS75 (4650mm), as well as the top-selling Baojun 560 (4620mm). A seven-seater, the CX70 is, in true Chana fashion, on the spartan end of the spectrum, sporting an antediluvian five-speed manual transmission, yet allowing itself a reasonably-size touch screen, an item that has fast become mandatory in all new Chinese nameplates.

Bar for success: #80 or 6.000 monthly sales

Previous month: China January 2016: Focus on the all-new models

One year ago: China February 2015: Focus on the all-new models