The new A-Class helps Mercedes retail sales up 14.3% in China in May. Just as wholesales continue to freefall (-16.4%), retail sales contain their decline to -4.4% in May to 1.710.251 units and -2.1% so far in 2019 to 8.420.323 (-2.1%). Keep in mind wholesales are factory shipments to dealerships and…
Baojun E200. New Energy vehicles include electric, hydrogen, PHEV and hybrid models, and in this update we are referring to retail sales including imports as these offer a much more complete picture of New Energy sales than wholesales alone. In May, sales of New Energy vehicles in China edge down…
The Lexus UX has landed in China. After scoring their first year-on-year gain of 2019 in April (+8.8%), new car imports into China accelerate to +18.4% in May to 99.449 units, leading to a year-to-date tally now down just -0.9% to 449.446. 8 of the Top 10 brands outpace the…
Toyota Tundra in front of the Potala Palace, Lhasa. After Shanghai, Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia and Kunming, Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan, we finish our Chinese exploration following the Shanghai Auto Show on a high note. After many years of anticipation and missed opportunities because of how convoluted the permit process is, I…
My rental Peugeot 301 in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. We are back for a new series of China Test Drives as securing my temporary Chinese driver's licence for a second year in a row enabled me to rent two cars in two different provinces and test drive 9 more at dealerships.…
The GAC NE Aion S has landed in China. After analysing May wholesales in detail, we now focus on the all-new locally-produced launches for the month, so you can stay up-to-date on the fastest-evolving automotive market in the world. Note this update is based on wholesales figures, and sometimes new…
Honda sales are up 18.1% in a market down -16.4% Far from building up on the signs of recovery the market showed earlier in the year, Chinese wholesales fall even deeper into depression in May with their steepest year-on-year drop so far at a ghastly -16.4% to 1.912.600 units, marking…
Chana CX70 in Lijiang After Shanghai, Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia and Kunming and Dali in Yunnan, we proceed on our Chinese exploration following the Shanghai Auto Show. Next stop is Lijiang, still in Yunnan province, roughly 200km north of Dali, and then we push a further 100km north to the famous…
Wuling Hongguang V in Dali old town After Shanghai, Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia and Kunming in Yunnan, we continue on our exploration of Chinese regions following the Shanghai Auto Show. This time we travel 350km west from Kunming to reach the small town of Dali on the shores of the Erhai…
Haval H6 Coupe near Kunming After Shanghai and Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia, we continue our exploration of China following the Shanghai Auto Show and now fly all the way down north near the border with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to the Yunnan province. We start with the province's capital,…
Bestune T77 in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. This is the second stop in our 2019 exploration of China following the Shanghai Auto Show. You can consult the 1st stop Shanghai here. We are now in Manzhouli in eastern Inner Mongolia in the north of the country, at the border with Russia…
Shanghai street scene. Like every year, after reporting on the main Chinese Auto Show (this year in Shanghai), we now embark on an exploration of the car landscapes of various regions in the country. This year we returned to Shanghai for the first time since 2015. You can consult our…
The new generation Accord (+42.4%) helps Honda retail sales up 39.7% in April. Retail sales are an exclusive additional monthly Chinese update on BSCB since February 2018 for locally-made vehicles, imports being covered in separate articles. If wholesales correspond to ex-factory shipments, retail sales are those to end customers, taking the marketing edge…
Lexus RX sales surge 85.6% year-on-year in China this month. Imports into China score their first year-on-year gain of 2019 in April at a sturdy +8.8% to 95.341, meaning the year-to-date volume is now down -5.8% at 348.113 vs. -10.2% as of last month. Lexus (+42.1%) roars ahead again, managing…
The Xpeng G3 breaks its volume record and outsells both the Weltmeister EX5 and NIO ES8 for the first time. Retail sales of New Energy vehicles in China including EVs, PHEVs and hybrids slow down their growth at +56.5% to 90.683 units in April but remain by far the last…