China retail August 2024: BYD up to 360,000 sales, Jetour, Leapmotor at all time high

Jetour breaks its monthly volume record in August…

We can share with you today All brands and All models retail sales data for China in August. Sales for the selection of vehicles included in this report grow 4.6% year-on-year to 1,929,447 units. The year-to-date volume is also in positive at +2.6% to 13,080,727. 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 picture of the market as they roughly correspond to registrations by end-customers and are more difficult to artificially boost with exports which can sometimes be the case for wholesales data.

After breaking its monthly volume record by 36,000 units in July, BYD (+69.1%) surges ahead to smash it again this month, and by more than 60,000 units! Its new benchmark stands at just under 360,000 sales, the brand’s first time above 300,000. The carmaker is lifted by outstanding performances by the Destroyer 05 (+191.1%), Seal (+75.2%), Seagull (+41.5%), Tang (+41.3%) and Song Plus (+37.1%) but mainly by the arrival of a string of very successful launches such as the Qin L (record 35,952), Seal 06 (record 32,772) and Song L (record 17,826). The Dolphin (-25.7%) for its part is past its prime. #2 Volkswagen (-7.6%) recedes again to hold less than half BYD’s footprint. The German carmaker however slows down its fall to single-digits for the first time since January. It is helped by the ID.4 X (+106.1%), Lavida (+31.5%), Tayron (+28.9%), Passat (+28.2%), ID.3 (+16.7%) and Teramont X (+11%). The new Tiguan L Pro is above 4,000 sales.

…as does BYD…

Although down -4.3% year-on-year, Toyota also manages to contain its losses to single-digits, for the 2nd month in a row. Wuling is up 25% to #4 thanks to a resurgence by the Honguang Mini EV. Geely (-7.4%) drops to #4 ahead of Changan (-25.1%) in great difficulty. Tesla (-0.8%) is stable, which is a great performance given its negative scores elsewhere in the world. Honda (-42.8%) implodes at #8 but still manages a 5th place year-to-date. Chery (+43.6%) is in outstanding shape, lodging its largest monthly volume since January. Li Auto (+41.6%) continues to impress but slips out of the Top 10 at #11. Jetour (+99.5%) beats its volume record at 33,785 and breaks into the Top 15 for the first time at #14. AITO (+751.8%) also stuns at #17. Finally Galaxy at 27,786, Leapmotor at 26,377 and Fang Cheng Bao at 4,513 are at all-time highs.

…and Leapmotor.

Looking at the models ranking in isolation, the BYD Seagull (+41.5%) snaps the pole position for the 2nd time after last October. It distances the Tesla Model Y (-10.2%) and the BYD Qin Plus (+18.9%). The latter solidly holds onto the YTD top spot. The Song Plus (+37.1%) and new Qin L and Seal 06 ensure there are 5 BYD models in the Top 6 like last month. The VW Lavida (+31.5%) stays at #7 ahead of the Nissan Sylphy (-0.6%), Wuling Hongguang Mini EV (+67.8%) and BYD Song Plus (+19.2%). The new Li L6 is down three spots to a still impressive #11. 

Previous month: China retail July 2024: BYD places 5 models in Top 6, smashes records as do Li Auto, NIO, Leapmotor

One year ago: China retail August 2023: BYD, Aion, Tesla stand out in stable market

Full August 2024 Top 126 All brands and Top 700 All models below.