China Retail April 2019: Honda (+39.7%) continues to stun, Top 8 is 100% sedans in market down -7%

The new generation Accord (+42.4%) helps Honda retail sales up 39.7% in April.

Retail sales are an exclusive additional monthly Chinese update on BSCB since February 2018 for locally-made vehicles, imports being covered in separate articles. If wholesales correspond to ex-factory shipments, retail sales are those to end customers, taking the marketing edge off the wholesales figures and giving a more realistic account of the reality of the market on the ground. In April, once again retail sales behave a lot better than wholesales at -7% year-on-year to 1.527.844 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down just -2.4% at 6.647.100. Brand leader Volkswagen (-1.7%) resists much better than the market – as the Top 4 carmakers all do – thanks to its new SUV lineup the T-Roc (8.174), Tharu (8.035), Tayron (6.936) and now T-Cross (1.109) as well as strong holds by the CC (+59%), Lavida (+16.4%), Passat (+2.8%), Jetta (+1.6%) and Santana (-2.1%).

Thanks partly to the new F7, Haval sales are up 31.6%

But the hero of the Top 10 is once again Honda (+39.7%) posting a stunning gain thanks to outstanding performances by the CR-V (+5578.2%), Fit (+108.3%), Crider (+51.3%), Accord (+42.1%), Avancier (+35.6%), Civic (+24.4%), Vezel (+16.5%) and Odyssey (+16.3%). Toyota (+8%) and Nissan (+0.03%) also outpace the market just below as Geely (-16.3%) rounds up a Top 5 unchanged on March. Buick (-27.1%) and Wiuling (-17.2%) are also in difficulty but Haval (+31.6%), Mercedes (+19.5%), Hyundai (+2%) and just outside the Top 10 BMW (+49.2%) all shine. There are only two additional double-digit gainers in the Top 30: Volvo (+18.9%) and Chana (+13.5%) as well as just four additional gainers: BYD (+8.9%), Cadillac (+4.8%), Mitsubishi (+2.2%) and Kia (+0.5%). On the other hand Baojun (-41.2%), Ford (-39.8%), Dongfeng (-27.5%), MG (-26.5%), Mazda (-25.9%), JAC (-24.4%) and Chevrolet (-24.1%) are hit hard. Jetour (#40) remains the best-selling new brand launch (<12 months) above Bestune (#50), Weltmeister (#63), COS (#72) and newcomer for the month Exeed (#75).

The new X3 stirs BMW up 49.2%.

Looking at the models ranking separately, we witness a feat that hasn’t happened in potentially five years: a Top 8 entirely composed of sedans, with the best-selling SUV for the month, the Nissan X-Trail, ranking at a paltry #10 below the Wuling Hongguang, once the uncontested leader of the Chinese market. Instead, we find the VW Lavida (+16.4%), Nissan Sylphy (+4.5%) and Toyota Corolla (-20.2%) on the podium, followed by the VW Santana (-2.1%) and Sagitar (-14.4%) in the Top 5 ahead of the Honda Accord (+42.1%), VW Jetta (+1.6%) and Honda Civic (+24.4%). The Roewe i5 (#33) is the most popular recent launch, distancing the BMW X3 (#35), Geely Binyue (#48), VW T-Roc (#51), Tharu (#54), Haval F7 (#55), Aud Q5L (#56) and VW Tayron (#63). This month we welcome in the retail charts the Honda Envix (#202), VW T-Cross (#265), Exeed TX (#306), BAIC Senova Zhidao (#342), Chana Oshan Longxing (#490) and Dorcen G60s (#543).

See also: China Wholesales April 2019: Honda (+23.1%), Toyota (+22.2%), BMW (+31.3%) stun in market back in hell (-14.6%)

Previous post: China Retail First Quarter 2019: VW Lavida, Nissan Sylphy in control, Haval and Honda surge ahead in market down just -0.6%

Previous month: China Retail March 2019: Honda (+30.5%), BMW (+80%), BYD (+59.7%) fly off in market down a subdued -5.3%

One year ago: China Retail April 2018: Three sedans on top, Baojun 510 #1 SUV

Full April 2019 Top 102 All China-made brands and Top 655 models below.