China retail June 2021: Volkswagen down “just” -7.9%, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV signs first podium

Volkswagen’s retail volumes hold up much better than wholesales in June.

BSCB is the only non-Chinese medium to cover both wholesales (ex-factory shipments) and retail sales (end-customer sales) for China so you can get the most complete picture of the largest new vehicle market in the world. Retail sales tend to give a more authentic picture of the market as they roughly correspond to purchases by end-customers and are more difficult to artificially boost by manufacturers which can sometimes be the case for wholesales data. If June wholesales are significantly down year-on-year (-12.4%), the selection of vehicles included in this update which extends to some LCVs such as microvans is actually up 1.1% year-on-year in June to 1.617.153 units and up 33.5% year-to-date to 10.009.478.

The big news in the brands ranking is the relatively good behaviour of market leader Volkswagen at -7.9%, in complete contrast with its wholesales implosion (-50.2%). If existing stock was able to meet demand in June, we anticipate a couple of potentially difficult months for Volkswagen as June’s weak wholesales trickle down to stock availability. This month, good performances by the Tayron X (+807.1%), Tacqua (+48.2%), Polo (+25.4%), Phideon (+21.4%), C-Trek (+15%), Lamando (+12.9%), Santana (+12.2%), Passat (+11%) and Viloran (+1.7%) as well as the arrival of the ID.6 X and ID.6 Crozz helped mitigate VW’s fall whereas the Tayron (-52.2%), Teramont X (-49.2%), CC (-42.2%), T-Roc (-33.1%), Touran (-32.6%), Magotan (-27.7%) and Golf (-26.2%) are in difficulty.

The Wuling Hongguang MINI EV scores its first podium finish in June.

The next three brands are Japanese and all fare worse than VW. Toyota (-9.7%) manages to stay in the single-digits and remain at #2, snapping that position in the year-to-date order as well. This is thanks to the Wildlander (+24.2%), Levin (+14.4%), Camry (+7.2%) and new Allion (3.905) but the Yaris L Sedan (-65.4%), Avalon (-56.2%), Vios FS (-23.9%), Highlander (-22.8%), Yaris L (-22.7%) and Corolla (-20.9%) all suffer. Honda sinks -16.7% as the UR-V (+329.9%), Elysion (+31.3%), Inspire (+22.9%) and XR-V (+19%) can’t compensate for ghastly outcomes by the Crider (-66.8%), Civic (-60.3%), Avancier (-34.1%), Accord (-28.1%), Breeze (-22.5%) and CR-V (-21.4%). Nissan is down -14.5% with the Tiida (+30.9%), Terra (+10.7%) and Teana (+7.1%) its only nameplates in positive.

Buick (+9.2%) posts the first year-on-year gain atop the charts, helped by the Enclave (+93.6%), LaCrosse (+39.1%), GL8 (+11.3%), GL6 (+9.5%), Excelle Yinlang (+6.6%) and Regal (+4.8%). Geely (-6.3%) returns to the top position among Chinese brands but is in negative. Changan (+11.3%) is down two spots on May but delivers a double-digit gain as do Wuling (+65.4%) and BMW (+10%) in the remainder of the Top 10. Audi (-5.6%) brakes and rounds out the Top 10 like last month. Just below, Haval (+9.4%) is solid, with Ora (+259.9%), COS (+117.8%), Tesla (+89.8%), BYD (+82.5%), Hongqi (+40.9%), Chery (+38.8%), GAC (+37.7%) and Lynk & Co (+24.6%) all posting fantastic gains further down. Among smaller brands, LI (+305.1%), NIO (+107.2%), TANK (new), Xpeng (+412.7%), Sehol (+17059.3%), Neta (+706.9%) and Leap Motor (+4447.7%) break their all-time monthly volume record this month, ranging from 7.827 to 3.911 units and all fitting inside the Top 50.

NIO breaks its all-time volume record in June.

Over in the models ranking, the Nissan Sylphy (-16.5%) and VW Lavida (+0.7%) retain the top two spots they also hold year-to-date. We have a newcomer on the podium this month: the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, still less than one year old, advancing on spot on May to a record third place overall. However it doesn’t break its volume record as it hit larger figures last November, December and March. The Buick Excelle Yinlang (+6.6%) and Toyota Corolla (-20.9%) make it four sedans in the Top 5, with the Haval H6 (+20%) topping the SUV charts as usual. The rest of the Top 10 is entirely composed of sedans, with the BMW 3 Series L (+28.6%) the most dynamic by far. Notice also the Tesla Model 3 (+13.2%) up 32 spots on May to #15. Below the MINI EV, the best-selling recent launches (<12 months) are the Tesla Model Y (#33), BYD Han (#38), COS X5 (#45), Geely Xingrui (#46) and Haval Big Dog (#56).

Previous month: China retail May 2021: Changan, Wuling, Haval impress in market up 4.3%

One year ago: China retail June 2020: Recovery interrupted (-6.2%) by high year-ago comparison base

Full June 2021 Top 125 All-brands and Top 640 All-models below.