China March 2018 Retail sales: Toyota Corolla surprise leader

The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling vehicle in China in March in our new Retail reports.

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This is a new, exclusive, update on BSCB, and for the second time we can share with you complete retail sales figures for China. These paint a very different picture than the wholesales data we have been publishing and will continue doing so. Volkswagen remains by far the most popular marque in the country, but only one other carmaker posts a six-digit sales figure in March: Toyota, up from #6 in February. Geely is down one spot to round up the podium ahead of Honda and Nissan.

Very first appearance of the Nio ES8 in the Chinese sales charts.

Helped by the addition of microvans in the Retail ranking, Wuling climbs up to #6 overall, distancing Buick (-3), Baojun (-5), Hyundai (+1) and Audi (+7). Changan, Dongfeng and Haval are grouped just outside the Top 10, all within 338 sales. Among recent brand launches, WEY is down 4 spots on last month to #37 while Lynk & Co is up 7 ranks to #43, Yudo up 12 to #70 and Traum up 4 to #73. Below Sinogold (#80), Xpeng (#81) and Arcfox (#82), Nio makes its very first appearance in any Chinese ranking with two ES8 crossovers finding a new home this month.

The Wuling Hongguang ranks #2 overall even when stripped out of its S3 crossover sales.

Over in the models ranking, the separation of some variants and the closer-to-market retail figures make for a completely different ranking. Whereas it has never topped the wholesales charts, the Toyota Corolla is the best-selling retail model in China in March with over 35.500 units (up from #8 in February), including 8.293 hybrid variants, making it the best-selling New Energy vehicle in China this month. Stripped of its S3 crossover variant (itself down 21 spots on last month to #42), the Wuling Hongguang however manages a 34.800-strong result in 2nd place overall, with over 100.000 sales in Q1 (#2 also). The VW Lavida (ex-Gran Lavida and Lavida Cross) rounds up the podium both in March and YTD, ahead of the Nissan Sylphy (+2).

The Baojun 510 has topped the Retail SUV charts for 7 of the past 8 months.

As it is the case in the wholesale rankings, the Baojun 510 is the best-selling SUV in the country, ranking 5th overall but #1 YTD thanks to 104.330 units sold so far this year. Contrary to the wholesale situation however, the 510 has topped the SUV ladder for 7 of the past 8 months starting last August, as the Haval H6 is here stripped of its H6 Coupe variant. In fact, for the first time since we have access to retail data (April 2017) the H6 falls to under 20.000 monthly units to #10 and #3 SUV below the VW Tiguan. Volkswagen indeed manages to place an astounding 7 nameplates inside the March Top 13: the Lavida (#3), Santana (#6), Jetta (#7), Tiguan (#8), Sagitar (#9), Bora (#12) and Magotan (#13).

Over 4.000 Jinbei X30 found a new home in China in March.

This retail ranking also includes some microvans such as the Wuling Hongguang V shooting up 38 spots on February to #15, the Wuling Sunshine up 51 to #44 and the Wuling Rongguang up 84 to #89. Among other nameplates that don’t show up in the wholesales data, the Baojun 310W station wagon is down 24 spots on February to #48, the Haval H6 Coupe is down 23 to #88, the JAC iEV6e is up 148 to #114, outselling the BAIC EC-Series (#127), the Jinbei X30 is up 105 to #124, the Dongfeng Fengxing Jingye X5 down 64 to #131, JMC Teshun up 125 to #133, JAC Refine M3 up 47 to #143, Chevrolet Malibu XL up 22 to #155 and Haval H2s down 46 to #163.

The Changhe Q7 makes its first appearance in any Chinese ranking.

Among recent launches, the Baojun 530 confirm its wholesale surge with 9.420 retail sales, up 131 spots on February to crack the Top 50 at #50. Most March wholesale launches however don’t appear yet in the retail rankings – somewhat logically – such as the Haval H4, Roewe Ei5 and DS 7. The Zotye T500 ranks at #329 and the Yudo π3 at #453. Reversely we have three new models appearing for the first time in the Retail charts this month: the Skoda Karoq already features in the wholesales data and lands here at #292, but the next two are exclusive to Retail for now: the Changhe Q7, launched at the Guangzhou Auto Show last November, ranks at #447 with 84 sales and the Nio ES8 electric crossover points its sculpted bonnet at #557 with two units.

Previous month: China February 2018: Discover exclusive Retail Sales figures

Full March 2018 Top 95 All China-made brands and Top 580 models below.