Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 26) - In a recent statement, China Association for Automobile Manufacturers Executive Vice Chairman and Secretary General Dong Yang voiced his predictions that half of all Chinese own brands would be eliminated from the market. Despite the tough conditions facing domestic manufacturers, a handful has still managed to overcome the challenges and succeed.
Hebei-based Great Wall is a prime example. In its recently released performance review, the manufacturer announced that its net profit for the first half of the year reached 2.36 billion yuan ($373.49m), China Business News reported today. The figure represents year-on-year growth of over 30 percent. Great Wall's business returns for the six month period totaled 18.29 billion yuan ($2.89b), 28.79 percent more than what it brought in the previous year.
Guotai Junan Securities Analyst Bai Xiaolan attributes Great Wall's strong performance to its new urban SUV, the Haval H6 (pictured). Thanks to the H6, the manufacturer has attracted a new demographic of buyers. At the same time, sales of high-profit Great Wall models has also increased, further boosting the manufacturer's net profits.
However, Great Wall risks the danger of sales for its Voleex sedan series falling. Analysts point out that for Great Wall to achieve its 2015 sales goal of 1.3 million vehicles, its sedan sales must remain high.
According to CAAM statistics, a total of 3.15 million own brand passenger automobiles were sold in the first half of the year, .16 percent less than a year ago. Own brand manufacturers controlled 41.39 percent of the market, falling three percent points from 2011. Among them, own brand sedan sales totaled 1.42 million units, falling a full 6.8 percent from the previous year. Even China's most successful own brand by sales volume, Chery Automobile, was not immune from poor market conditions, with its sales falling 9.3 percent over the six month period.
