Shanghai October 27 (Gasgoo.com) The sport utility vehicle (SUV) sector - the fastest growing vehicle segment in China - reported sales of 420,000 units in 2008, and of 730,000 units in 2009, a year-on-year surge of 60%. The country's SUV sales are expected to reach 1 million units this year and likely to break 1.5 million units in 2011, Dongfeng Honda vice manager Liu Hong recently said in an interview with Shenzhen Economic Daily.
Honda CR-V, a compact crossover SUV, won back its previous first place ranking with sales coming to 102,013 units in the first nine months of 2010 in China, helping Dongfeng Honda, a joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., gaining a market share of over 10% in the segment, according to the latest data.
With more and more similar products entering into the SUV market, the market share of compact recreational vehicles (CR-Vs) will shrink gradually. Last year, sales and output of China's domestically-made SUVs both stood at around 670,000 units, CR-V sales exceeded 100,000 units, growing market share to 19%, Liu Hong said.
He however said that although the competition in the SUV market is becoming more and more intense, CR-V is still the only vehicle type that can achieve monthly sales of over 1 millions in the segment. Statistics say more than 10 SUVs will be put on the market in the second half, showing Chinese autoamkers' ambition to santch the lion's share.
