China wholesales October 2021: BYD (+96.4%), Wuling (+69.8%) shine in recovering market down -9.4%

The BYD Qin PLUS breaks its volume record once again in October.

According to data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), new vehicle wholesales in China reduce their fall drastically from -19.6% year-on-year in September to -9.4% in October at 2,333,000 units, in an improving microchip context. Passenger Vehicles are down -5% to 2,007,000 but Commercial Vehicles tumble down -29.7% to 326,000. Year-to-date, the market is up 6.4% to 20,970,000 units, and up 1.4% on the same period in 2019. This includes 16,871,000 Passenger Vehicles (+8.8%) and 4,099,000 Commercial Vehicles (-2.5%). In the Passenger Vehicle detail, in October SUVs drop -6.8% to 934,000, cars dip -2.6% to 924,000, MPVs are down -7.2% to 114,000 and minibuses skid -9.3% to 35,000. Year-to-date, SUVs are up 9.5% to 7,927,000, cars gain 8.6% to 7,800,000 units, MPVs are up 6.3% to 834,000 and minibuses up 3% to 311,000.

Sales of Chinese Passenger Vehicles continue to improve year-on-year at +9.2% to 952,000 units for the month, holding a 47.4% market share vs. 41.3% a year ago in October 2020. Over the first 10 months of the year, Chinese brands are up a whopping 28% to 7,387,000 and 43.8% share vs. 37.2% over the same period in 2020. New Energy Vehicle Sales break records once again, up 134.9% year-on-year to 383,000 units for the month, and up 176.6% year-to-date to 2,542,000. Passenger Vehicle New Energy sales are up 142.2% to 366,000 in October and up 189% year-to-date to 2,413,000. In the Passenger Vehicle detail, BEV advances +39.4% to 298,000 and PHEV is up 155.5% to 67,000. Year-to-date, BEV is up 201% to 1,979,000 and PHEV up 144.5% to 434,000. Finally, exports surge 110% year-on-year to 231,000, a new record, with the year-to-date volume also more than doubling to 1,594,000 units.

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-27.8%) is once again in difficulty and drops three times faster than the market to just under 200.000 sales. Strong results by the ID.4 X (record 4,195), Lamando (+52.7%) and Touran (+18.5%) and the arrival of the ID.3 (1.335) are offset by painful drops by the likes of the T-Cross (-85.9%), Viloran (-77%), Tacqua (-75.4%), Golf (-64.8%), Polo (-59.5%), Magotan (-58.9%), Tayron (-58.2%) and Bora (-45.2%). Honda (-18.5%) doubles the market decline rate as solid performances by the Envix (+28.8%), Breeze (+21%) and XR-V (+20.1%) are counterbalanced by heavy falls by the Avancier (-64.4%), CR-V (-61.3%), UR-V (-47.1%), Crider (-44.7%), Elysion (-40.6%), Odyssey (-39.7%) and Inspire (-35.9%). Staying in third place vs. #2 year-to-date, Toyota (-2.2%) is almost stable this month thanks to the RAV4 (+58%), Camry (+57.3%), Highlander (+45.7%), Avalon (+36.1%) and IZOA (+21.4%).

Four Chinese manufacturers follow, illustrating the enlarged footprint they enjoy in their home market. Wuling (+69.8%) literally takes off with improved volumes for all its five nameplates: the Hongguang MINI EV (+64.7%), Hongguang (+20.9%), Xingchen (record 10,332), Victory (3,635) and Journey (2,571). BYD (+96.4%) does even better and almost doubles its sales year-on-year, a stunning performance in the current lukewarm market. The brand surfs on the success of the Qin PLUS (record 25.,908), Yuan (+485.2%), e3 (+144.4%), e2 (+59.7%), Tang (+40.2%), Song (+35% to a record 23,313) and Dolphin (record 6,018). Geely (-25.8%) and Changan (-17.2%) follow, ahead of Buick (-17.1%) and Nissan (-32.5%), all underperforming. Chery (+15.1%) snaps a 2nd Top 10 finish in the past 4 months at #10.

Below, Tesla (+347.9%), MG (+56.9%), Dongfeng (+56.1%), GAC (+23.8%), Roewe (+15.9%) and BMW (+11.7%) stand out with year-on-year upticks, while Hongqi (+59.2%) posts a new record volume at 35,009 units, thanks to record sales by the HS5 (16,577) and H9 (4,546) and a solid 17.1% gain by the H5 (8,485). Thanks to total volumes significantly up month-on-month, a high number of additional brands break their all-time volume record this month. Among them, Ora (13,235), TANK (9,950), Pocco (8,654), Neta (8,107), Exeed (5,042), Weltmeister (5,025), R (4,576), Lingbao (3,686) and Seres (2,205). Notice also impressive jumps by Letin (+1167.6%), Citroen (+287.8%), Xpeng (+247.3%), Sehol (+130.9%), Leap Motor (+109.6%), LI (+107.2%), Geometry (+77.8%), Bestune (+70.6%) and COS (+65%).

Over in the models ranking, the Nissan Sylphy (-29.2%) reclaims the top spot it holds year-to-date despite a steep year-on-year fall. It distances the Wuling Honggguang MINI EV (+64.7%) and Wuling Hongguang (+20.9%) with the VW Lavida (-14.6%) and Tesla Model 3 (+137.6% to a new record 28,853) rounding out the Top 5. The Haval H6 (-48.2%) loses almost half of its October 2020 volume to #6 overall but remains the best-selling SUV in the country above the Tesla Model Y (25,538) at #10 and the BYD Song (+35%) at #12. The Changan CS55 (+50.5%), Mercedes E-Class L (+35.1%), MG ZS (+65.7%), Mercedes GLC (+41.6%) and Baojun 530 (+52.9%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 30. Additional record breakers not mentioned so far include the MG 5 (16,071), GAC Trumpchi Empow (10,021), Roewe Clever (9,151), Haval First Love/Jolion (8,172), Ora Good Cat (7,845), Toyota Crown Kluger (7,291), Pocco Duo Duo (5,627), Neta V (5,178), Exeed TX/TXL (5,042), WEY Mocha (4,732), Xpeng G3 (3,657), Venucia Grand V (3,531), R ER6 (3,264), Weltmeister E:5 (3,171), Neta U (2,929) and Citroen C5 X (2,646).

Previous month: China wholesales September 2021: Market down -19.6%, NIO and Xpeng cross 10.000 monthly unit milestone

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

Full October 2021 Top 105 All-brands and Top 457 All-models below.