China retail April 2024: BYD Qin Plus threepeats at #1, AITO M9 inside Top 20.

AITO M9

After wholesales, it is now time to cover retail sales for China. The selection of vehicles included in this report add up to 1,449,696 units for April, down -5.9% year-on-year. The year-to-date tally remains in positive however at +8.7% to 6,086,739. 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 car market in the world. Retail sales tend to give a more authentic view of the market as they roughly correspond to registrations to end-customers and are more difficult to artificially boost with exports which can sometimes be the case for wholesales data.

BYD (+32%) defies the negative market and lodges another fantastic month. It outsells Volkswagen (-21.9%) by almost 89,000 units. YTD sales are up 23.4% to over 750,000. The Destroyer 05 (+460.6%), Song Pro (+145.3%) and Song Plus (+41.1%) stand out as do new entrants Seagull and Song L. Volkswagen for its part still has models in positive despite a harsh overall drop. The ID.3 (+226.2%) confirms it is gearing up, with the ID.4 X (+43.9%) also ID.4 Crozz (+31.6%) in great shape. Although volumes remain limited, the ID series seems to resonate more with Chinese customers than European ones. The Teramont X (+47.9%) and Tacqua (+27.3%) also shine.

Toyota (-21.4%) evolves similarly, with highlights including the bZ3 (+268.2%), Granvia (+110.8%), Corolla Cross (+53.1%), Front Lander (+36.7%) and Crown Kluger (+22.7%) its highlights. Honda (-18.5%) is back up to #4 ahead of Geely (-5.6%) while Mercedes (-2.9%) climbs up four spots on March to #6 but still can’t manage a positive result. Nissan (+9.1%) is one of the rare foreign manufacturers in positive this month, gaining five ranks on March to #7. Chery (+26.6%) is solid at #12. AITO (+457.6%) continues to surge at #15 as does Jetour (+163.9%) at #19. Hongqi (+5.7%) also gains ground year-on-year at #18. NIO (+109.3%), Zeekr (+101.6%), TANK (+40.6%) and Lynk & Co (+31.1%) also impress below. Xiaomi climbs to #39.

Over in the models ranking, the BYD Qin Plus (+18.2%) posts a third consecutive month on top with over 45,000 sales. The Nissan Sylphy’s performance (+21.6%) is encouraging as it rallies back up 6 spots on March to #2. It ranks #3 year-to-date as it did over the Full Year 2023. The BYD Song Plus (+41.1%) and new Seagull make it three BYDs in the Top 4 like last month. The Tesla Model Y (-1.6%) loses ground year-on-year and is down to a still respectable 5th place. The BYD Yuan Plus (+8.9%) and Song Pro (+145.3%) both improve unlike the VW Lavida (-22.5%). BYD even places 6 models in the Top 10 with the Destroyer 05 (+460.6%) and Han (+10.7%) at #9 and #10 respectively. Notice also the outstanding result of the AITO M9 up to #17 for its third month in market. The Xiaomi SU7 is up to #54.

Previous month: China retail March 2024: BYD smashes VW, places 3 models in Top 4, Mazda only foreigner in positive

One year ago: China retail April 2023: Volkswagen back above BYD, market up 59.5% on low year-ago volumes

Full April 2024 Top 119 All brands and Top 654 All models below.