China wholesales November 2020: 12 brands break volume records in 7th straight double-digit market lift (+12.6%)

The Wuling Victory has landed in the Chinese wholesales charts.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), new vehicle wholesales gain another 12.6% year-on-year in November to 2.77 million units, marking an 8th consecutive month of gains and 7th straight double-digit uptick. Passenger vehicles are up 11.6% to 2.297.000 units while commercial vehicles continue to be lifted by new infrastructure investments at +18% to 472.000 units. In the passenger vehicle detail, SUVs are up 15.9% to 1.090.000, cars are up 8.5% to 1.041.000, MPVs up 3% to 127.000 and minibuses up 11.4% to 39.000. Year-to-date, wholesales are down -2.9% to 22.470.000 with passenger vehicles down -7.6% to 17.793.000 but commercial vehicles up 20.5% to 4.676.000. SUVs overtake cars in YTD volumes at 8.323.000 (-0.9%) vs. 8.218.000 (-11.3%) while MPVs drop 26.3% to 911.000 and minibuses edge down -3% to 341.000. New Energy Vehicles (NEV) soar 104.9% year-on-year to mark a 5th consecutive gain and tilt into positive YTD at 1.119.000 units (+3.9%). This month, BEV sales are up 100.5% to 167.000 and PHEV up 128.9% to 33.000 with FCV at 290 sales.

Hongqi aligns an 8th consecutive all-time monthly volume record.

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-7.3%) continues to miss out on the market growth, with strong performances by the Tacqua (record 7.150 sales), Magotan (+36.8%) and Bora (+15.9% to a record 44.595 units), unable to compensate for paltry showings by the T-Cross (-59.5%), Passat (-50.6%), Polo (-36.2%), Lamando (-33%), Golf (-30.8%), Santana (-16.5%) and Tayron (-13.5%). In contrast, both Honda (+21.9%) and Toyota (+11.3%) flirt with all-time record volumes – albeit not breaking them. Honda is helped by record tallies for the Civic (28.068) and CR-V (31.455) and a 161.3% surge by the Fit, while Toyota aligns record volumes for the RAV4 (up 67.1% to 19.265) and Wildlander (11.086). Wuling (+86.8%) scores the largest gain in the Top 10 (and Top 20) thanks to the Hongguang MINI EV now above 28.000 monthly sales and the arrival of the new, upmarket Victory MPV with almost 7.000 wholesales for its first month in market.

The BYD D1 MPV is also new for the month.

Buick (+54.6%) takes advantage of stellar Excelle Yinlang sales (+121%), Chery (+52%) has a 2nd straight volume record for the Tiggo 8 (up 52.6% to 20.677) and Changan (+28.3%) sees the CS75 hit an all-time high for the 2nd consecutive month (up 20.3% to 32.759). Mercedes (+25.4%), Haval (+22.1%) and BMW (+19.4%) also outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 15. Below, no less than 12 brands break their all-time volume record this month, starting with MG (+63.7%) at 44.694. Hongqi (+101%) aligns an 8th straight record at 25.086, Lynk & Co (+61.3%) is at its 5th consecutive record, Tesla (21.604) crosses the 20.000 monthly wholesales mark for the very first time and Jetour (20.586) also. Volvo (+28.9%), Ora (+414.7%), SOL (+1574.7%) and Xpeng (+357.7%) also break records, while NIO (+252.7%), LI (4.646) and Weltmeister (+174.6%) all score a 4th straight all-time high volume…

The Haval H6 is the overall best-seller in China for the first time in almost 3 years.

Model-wise, the Haval H6 (+32%) is helped by the third generation (which accounts for 40% of its November tally) to its first overall pole position in almost 3 years: since January 2018. It also passes the 50.000 monthly unit-milestone for the second straight month, advancing to #3 YTD and relegating the Nissan Sylphy (+0.2%) to #2 for the month. The VW Lavida (-8.5%), Bora (+15.9%) and Buick Excelle Yinlang (+121%) follow. Other volume record-breakers not mentioned earlier include the Nissan X-Trail (+37%), BYD Song (21.296), Haval M6 (20.034), BYD Han (10.105), Ora Black Cat (9.463), Haval Big Dog (8.555), Jetour X90 (8.391), Geely Haoyue (7.192), Mercedes GLB (6.209), Lynk & Co 06 (5.538), SOL X8 (5.293), Lynk & Co 05 (4.761), GAC Trumpchi GM8 (4.747), Lincoln Corsair (4.651) and Hongqi H9 (3.749). This month we welcome the Geely Xingrui sedan at #93, the Wuling Victory at #96, Dongfeng Glory 500 at #122 and the JAC Jiayue A5 rebranded as the SOL A5 at #216. The Maple 30X, Bestune B70, Neta V and BYD D1 also make their first appearance in the wholesales charts.

Previous month: China wholesales October 2020: Hongqi, Lynk & Co, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV break records in market up 12.5%

One year ago: China wholesales November 2019: Volkswagen (+12.7%) places 5 models in Top 10, Jetta hits 40.000 sales in 3 months in 17th straight market decline (-3.6%)

Full November 2020 Top 105 All-brands and Top 465 All-models below.