GAC and other Chinese manufacturers look to capitalize on growth in SUV market

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 2) - Despite the Chinese automobile market as a whole slowing down recently, sales growth of SUVs continues to remain in the double digits, something several manufacturers have taken notice of. One of those manufacturers is Guangzhou Automobile Group, who announced the official release of the Trumpchi GS5 SUV. According to a report appearing in the Guangzhou Daily today, the GS5 will come in seven variants, with six of those being priced within 200,000 yuan ($31,771).

GAC Motor vice general manager Xu Yulin expects sales for SUVs in China to remain above twenty percent for at least three years. Domestic own brand manufacturers, such as GAC, are eyeing the SUV market as a way to compete with their foreign rivals. For example, Great Wall has seen tremendous success with its Haval H series, sales of which grew nearly ten percent last year. Even Jinbei, a domestic truck and van manufacturer, introduced a new compact SUV at last November's Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition.

However, there are some in the industry who believe that the majority of growth in the SUV segment is occurring at the high and low ends. With joint ventures unwilling to lower the prices on their models, the market for low-end SUVs is extremely attractive to domestic manufacturers. On that note, GAC Motor General Manager Wu Song announced that the manufacturer's new SUV will start at around 123,800 yuan ($19,666).

According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers statistics, 1.59 million SUVs were sold in China in 2011. SUVs made up about ten percent of all sales.