China retail Full Year 2022: BYD surges 123.3%, Nissan Sylphy remains #1, market down -2.1%
BYD sales more than double in 2022.
Discover 40 years worth of Chinese Historical Data here.
BSCB is the only non-Chinese medium to cover both wholesales (ex-factory shipments) and retail sales data 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 registrations by end-customers and are more difficult to artificially boost by manufacturers with exports which can sometimes be the case for wholesales data. The selection of vehicles included in this update is up 12.4% year-on-year in December to 2,465,002 and down -2.1% over the Full Year 2022 to 19,837,304. Note pickups and medium to heavy commercial vehicles are not included in this dataset, but it includes a more detailed split by model variant (Jetour X70, X70 Coupe, X70 Plus, X70M and X70S for example).
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-8.1%) endures another year-on-year decline but remains by far the most popular in China. The ID.3 (+371.2%), ID.6 Crozz (+183.1%), ID.4 Crozz (+95%), ID.4 X (+69.3%), ID.6 X (+66.8%), Lamando (+63.9%), Talagon (+47.4%), CC (+32.7%), T-Roc (+24.2%) and Golf (+23.6%) are the brand’s best performers this year. Toyota (+14.7%) is in solid shape and stays at #2, helped by successful launches by the Corolla Cross and Front Lander twins, 2021 launches the Sienna (+7890.6%), Harrier (+593.9%) and Levin GT (+306.4%), as well as the Crown Kluger (+90.4%), Wildlander (+39.4%) and Camry (+18.7%). As it is the case in the wholesales charts, the success story of the year is BYD up a staggering 123.3% year-on-year and seven spots on 2021 to land in third place. BYD broke its all-time monthly volume record six times and lifted it from 107,138 to 216,617 units. It even peaked at #1 in November, toppling Volkswagen. The Dolphin (+804.1%) ends its first full year in market above 180,000 units, with the Song Plus (+165.9%), Qin Pus (+119.3%), Tang (+118.7%) and Han (+100%) also euphoric.
The Nissan Sylphy remains the best-selling vehicle in China retail-wise.
Honda (-10.4%) is in difficulty and drops one rank on last year to #4 ahead of Changan (+2.7%) and Wuling (-4.3%) both up one spot to #5 and #6 respectively. #1 Chinese brand last year, Geely (-21.2%) sinks to #4 and #7 overall. Nissan (-23.4%) and Buick (-23.8%) endues the biggest losses in the Top 10 while BMW (+0.4%) is up two ranks to #9. Tesla (+41.6%), GAC (+17.7%) and Chery (+11.5%) also post strong results in the remainder of the Top 20. Further down, Geometry (+264.9%), Leap Motor (+148.4%), Neta (+143.2%), TANK (+93.1%), LI (+46.9%), NIO (+32.2%) and Xpeng (+25%) all hit highest ever annual volumes. Zeekr (#43) and AITO (#44) both end their first full year of sales above 70,000 units.
Looking at the models ranking, the Nissan Sylphy (-18.2%) retains the top spot despite a harsh drop, with the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV (+5.1%) overtaking the VW Lavida (-18.4%) for #2 overall. The BYD Song Plus (+165.9%) is up 39 spots on 2021 to land at #4 ahead of the Tesla Model Y (+97.1%) up 23 ranks to #5. The BYD Qin Plus (+119.3%) for its part is also up 39 spots to #6, distancing the Toyota Corolla (-16.9%) down two to #7 and the Toyota Camry (+18.7%) up three to #8. The Haval H6 (-34.3%) falls 5 ranks to #9 and the Honda Accord (+14%) is up four to round out the Top 10. The VW Sagitar (-8.2%) and Honda CR-V (+0.3%) are knocked out of the Top 10. The BYD Han (+100%) is up 40 spots to #11. The BYD Yuan Plus (#25) is the most popular 2022 launch above the Changan UNI-V (#58), Toyota Front Lander (#59) and Toyota Corolla Cross (#77).
Previous year: China retail 2021: Wuling (+52.3%), BYD (+98.7%) show explosive growth in market up 6.4%
Two years ago: China retail 2020: Changan (+26.8%), Toyota (+7.6%) headline market down -7.5%
Full Year 2022 Top 143 all brands and Top 827 all models vs. Full Year 2021 figures below.
Full December 2022 Top 118 all brands and Top 687 all models below.
