Nasir Al-Mulk mosque in Shiraz, Iran With Iran agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the end of economic sanctions, carmakers are scrambling to the starting blocks in order to best benefit from the opening of a high-potential market to competition. If you are a regular BSCB reader, you…
The VW Lavida outsells the Wuling Hongguang to #1 for the first time in two years. * See the Top 368 All-local models by clicking on the title * Light vehicles sales are up just 1.2% year-on-year in May in China, with passenger cars up 3.8% to 1.57 million units…
Let's play guess the logo. After going through 35 different Chinese carmakers (backwards) in my 'most impressive' ranking, our heads are all spinning and there's nothing better than a good old table to make them stop and summarise everything. You're welcome. (Click on the brand to see the full article) Auto…
Geely GC9 As is the tradition on BSCB, after exploring the April Chinese ranking, we then go into the detail of the all-new models landing into the largest new vehicle market in the world. As always this only concerns the models that have kick-started local production as imports data is still very patchy for…
Suzuki Lingyang taxi in Mudanjiang After Yanji in the Korean Autonomous Prefecture, we are now leaving the Jilin province, headed north to cross over to Mudanjiang in the Heilongjiang province, home to just under 1 million inhabitants. Mudanjiang does have an airport but it doesn’t have direct flights to either…
Hyundai Elantra taxis in Yanji After Changchun, we hop on a short 45 mins flight to Yanji, capital of the little-known Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, next to the North Korean border. Yanbian was created in 1955 as a reward for Koreans who fought on the side of the communists in the…
Kawei is bringing a bit of Beijing spontaneity to Shanghai. The moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived. Now an annual tradition at BSCB, I give you the ranking of the Chinese carmakers that impressed me the most at Auto Shanghai 2015. If last year in Beijing…
The Kia Rio outsold the Lada Granta to rank #1 in November. * See the Top 25 best-selling models and Top 63 All-brands by clicking on the title * There is now a Top 434 All-models ranking available here Economic sanctions on the back of the Ukraine situation coupled with rising inflation…
The Baojun 730 is the 6th most popular light vehicle in China this month. * See the Top 325 All-local models and Top 10 manufacturers by clicking on the title! * Sales of new passenger cars in China confirm their cooling off, up 'just' 6.6% year-on-year in October to 1.708.900…
Dongfeng Joyear X5. MPVs are up 66% in July. * NOW UPDATED with the Top 318 All-models and Top 64 All-brands! Click on title to see * New light vehicle sales in China are up a solid 10% year-on-year in July to 1.3578 million, bringing the year-to-date total to 10.992…
The Audi Q3 is up 63% year-on-year in June in China. * NOW UPDATED with the Top 318 models and Top 64 brands! Click on title to see * According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, light vehicle sales in China are up a sturdy 11% year-on-year both in June…
Wuling Hongguang in Beijing * See the Top 348 All-models and Top 66 brands by clicking on the title! * As is the tradition on BSCB, after exploring the May sales figures in detail and focusing on the all-new models launched this month, we go through the year-to-date rankings to…
VW Santana * See the Top 327 All-local models and Top 64 brands by clicking on the title! * Still no sign of slowing down for the Chinese new car market, with May up another 8.5% to 1.91 million units across all segments, bringing the year-to-date total to 9.84 million units,…
Great Wall Wingle This is Part 3 of my special Strategy series about Chinese manufacturers at home. You can check out Part 1 (introduction and Medium & Heavy Trucks) here, Part 2 (Small, Medium & Large Buses and Light Trucks) here and Part 4 (Commercial Vehicles summary and MPVs) here. We are exploring the…
Haima S5 Today we resume a BSCB tradition: after going through detailed sales for April, I spend a bit more time acknowledging the all-new entrants in the models ranking. 4 new models make their very first appearance this month, led by the Haima S5 landing directly in 139th position with…