Top 10 Occupies 50% of the whole SUV market and Japanese Brands Benefit A Lot

The sales of SUV now keep speeding up and leads the market of passenger cars. At the same time, the market concentration also keeps improving. In accordance with the data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in October and November, the ratio of top 10 models in SUV occupies 52.92% and 52.54% respectively. This data in first half of year was only 50%. It is reported that few self-owned brand such as Great Wall Haval attracts more and more attention in SUV. According to the analysis, it is due to the dislocation competition strategy of self-owned brands. In 3-tier and lower market, self-owned brands are superior in popularity. But it is uncertain for self-owned brands to keep speeding up when Japanese & Korean brands join the competition.

From the beginning of this year, Chinese SUV market keeps increasing rapidly. In accordance with the data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the sales of SUV in November were 301,300 and the year-on-year growth was 59.24% which was much more than 9.19% for small cars and 16.08% for passenger cars. The sales data of first 11 months was 2,673,900 for SUV and year-on-year growth was 49.11%. The data for small cars and passenger cars was 11.15% and 15.10%.

The market concentration keeps improving at the same time. The data shows that Top 10 brands of Chinese market include Volkswagen Tiguan, Honda CR-V, Great Wall Haval etc.,whose total sales were 647,400, occupying more than 50% of total SUV market. Although the market of SUV keeps expanding and more new models are brought in, customers tend to be more rational and are willing to choose brands with good fame & quality.

In this background, Japanese brands and few self-owned brands benefit a lot.

According to Mr. Chi, the general manager of Beijing Beichen Asian games village automobile exchange market, “Honda and Toyota have become 2 Japanese brands attracting great attention.” In October & November, Honda CR-V and Toyota RV4, Highlander come into top 10. In November, Toyota RV4 and Highlander ranks 3th and 9th. Among self-owned models, Haval attracts most attention. According to related data, the sales of Haval were 37,300 in November and the year-on-year growth was more than 40%. The total sales of Haval were 346,100 from Jan. to Nov. and the year-on-year growth was over 60%. Besides, BYD S6 performed well in November. The sales in Nov. were 7900 and the year-on-year growth was nearly 30%.

Mr. Chi said, “Although self-owned brands have attracted lot of attention but the potential customers are quite different from Japanese brands.” The main markets of self-owned brand SUV are 3-tier & lower cities. Self-owned brands still cannot compete with joint venture brands. He added, “Joint venture brands now are expanding their channels to 3-tier & lower markets. If self-owned brands didn’t improve their brand influence, they would lose the advantage in 3 tier & lower cities.”