China wholesales First Half 2022: Sales down -6.6%, Nissan Sylphy resists Wuling Hongguang Mini EV

The Nissan Sylphy remains the best-selling vehicle in China so far in 2022.

According to data released by the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM), Chinese wholesales edge down -6.6% year-on-year over the First Half of 2022 to 12,057,000 units but have recovered in June (+23.8%). Passenger Vehicles are up 3.4% to 10,355,000 units whereas Commercial Vehicles dive -41.2% to 1,702,000 units in the absence of incentives. Exports are up 47.1% to 1,218,000 units including 202,000 New Energy vehicles, up 130% over the same period in 2021. Wholesales of China-branded Passenger Vehicles are up 16.5% to 4,891,000 units or 47.2% share vs. 41.9% over H1 2021. New Energy Vehicles reach 2.6 million units, up 115.6% year-on-year and corresponding to a 21.6% market share. The NEV share reaches 24% among Passenger Vehicles and 39.8% among China-branded Passenger Vehicles. The CAAM lowered its 2022 forecast from 27.5 million to 27 million, a 3% year-on-year growth. Passenger Vehicles are predicted to hit 23 million units (+7%) while Commercial Vehicles are at 4 million wholesales (-16%).

Over in the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-1.1%) resists well and is the only carmaker to sell more than 1 million units over the period. The brand’s best performers are the Talagon (+287.1%), Touran (+178.4%), Viloran (+89.3%), Passat (+76.9%), CC (+55.6%), Lamando (+51%) and Golf (+34.4%) while the new ID.3 (8,797), ID.4 Crozz (+406.8%), ID.4 X (+2971%), ID.6 Crozz (+1786.2%) and ID.6 X (+307.9%) fail to make a real mark for now. Toyota (+4.2%) widens the gap with follower Honda (-9.6%) from 80,000 last year to just under 190,000 in 2022. It is helped by strong showings by the Camry (+43.2%), Avalon (+29.8%) and Allion (+18.2%) but mostly by successful landings from the new Front Lander, Sienna, Corolla Cross, Crown Kluger and Harrier. For its part Honda is weak despite the Civic (+8.9%) and Inspire (+7.5%) as well as a great start by the Integra (just under 40,000 wholesales). 

BYD (+163.5%) is the hero of the period and climbs 10 spots on H1 2021 to land at a fantastic 4th place and snap the title of best-selling Chinese brand at home. All its main models show spectacular growth, including the Qin Plus (+334.5%), Yuan Pro (+341.5%), Tang (+327.3%), Song Plus (+112.4%) and HGan (+86%) but also the successful launch of the Dolphin (over 58,000 sales) and Yuan Plus (just under 55,000 units). Changan (-8.3%) drops one spot to #5, ahead of Geely (-16.4%) and Nissan (-16.8%) also down one. Wuling (+5.8%) is up four ranks thanks to the evergreen Hongguang Mini EV (+13.7%) and a draft of new models including the Jiachen and Xingchen. BMW (-12.4%) suffers but gains one spot on last year to #9 while Chery (+9.7%)  breaks into the Top 10 thanks to a solid uptick.

Tesla (+81.6%) just misses out on a Top 10 finish at #11 vs. #17 a year ago, with Dongfeng (+43.8%) and GAC (+36.3%) also impressive in the remainder of the Top 20. Among New Energy startups, Xpeng soars 125% and 11 spots to #29, Neta is up 199% and 16 ranks to #31, LI exactly doubles its sales (+100.3%) to #33, Leap Motor surges 250.6% to #38, NIO is up 21.1% at #39 and Geometry (+510.3%) advances 19 spots to #42. Other great performers include TANK (+188.5%), Venucia (+61.4%) and Citroen (+156.6%). AITO leads newcomers at #50, followed by Zeekr (#52), Voyah (#68), Skyworth (#69), Baizhi (#71) and Dayun (#74).

Model-wise, the Nissan Sylphy (-10.7%) is in difficult but resists the assault of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV (+13.7%) for now, with just above 21,000 sales separating the two models. The Tesla Model Y (+286.8%) leaps from #66 over H1 2021 to #3 this year, helped by a win in June. The BYD Song Plus (+112.4%) is also up spectacularly, by 25 units to #4 overall. Once the leader of the Chinese market, the VW Lavida (-10.6%) remains in 5th place above the Haval H6 (-31.8%) losing four spots to #6. The BYD Qin Plus (+334.5%) shows explosive growth and gains no less than 91 spots on H1 2021 to #7, it is followed by the Toyota Camry (+43.2%), Honda CR-V (-7.9%) and Changan CS75 Plus (-33.4%) to round out the Top 10. The best-selling newcomer is the BYD Dolphin at #48, followed by the Geely Xingyue L (#53), BYD Yuan Plus (#56) and Chery QQ Ice Cream (#57).

One year ago: China wholesales June 2021: Toyota (-0.2%) topples VW (-50.2%) in market down -12.4%

Full H1 2022 Top 110 All-brands and Top 600 All-models below.