Summary: Chinese sales as a ratio of total sales volume for global top eight

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - While it is indisputable that China's importance is increasing on a daily business, the actual ratio of Chinese sales for the world's top eight manufacturers (Volkswagen, General Motors, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, PSA, Honda and Ford) varies quite dramatically.

For VW, GM and Nissan, sales in the Chinese market in the first half of the year have accounted for a quarter of their sales overall. That wasn't the case in 2009, when Chinese sales only made up for 22.2 percent, 24.4 percent and 22.5 percent of their total worldwide sales, respectively.

In 2010, GM, which includes the SAIC-GM-Wuling brand and FAW-GM, sold a total of 8.39 million vehicles worldwide, 28.0 percent of which were sold in China. That ratio increased again to 28.1 percent in the first half of this year (16.4 percent after detracting Wuling and FAW-GM sales). If one is to detract sales of the above two brands, GM would have sold about 7.15 million vehicles in China last year, equal to 15.6 percent of its global sales.

According to financial reports from VW, the German manufacturer sold around 7.28 million vehicles worldwide last year, with 1.92 million of those sales made in China, equal to 26.4 percent of its total volume. That ratio has increased again in the first half of this year to 26.8 percent.

Not counting those of its strategic partner Renault, Nissan's global sales last year were 4.08 million units, 1.02 million of which were sold in China. 25.1 percent of Nissan's sales that year were made in China, compared to 26.4 percent in the first half of this year.

For other manufacturers, meanwhile, Chinese sales account for somewhere between 15 percent and 20 percent of their total sales volume. Hyundai, Kia and Honda are among such manufacturers.

For Hyundai, who sold 3.11 million and 3.61 million vehicles in 2009 and 2010 respectively, Chinese sales have only accounted for 18.4 percent and 19.4 percent of their total sales volume. That ratio has dropped in the first half of this year to 17.7 percent.

Kia sold 2.09 million vehicles in 2010, with 333,000 of those sales in China. That's equivalent to a 15.9 percent ratio, which is 1.4 percent higher than it was in 2009. It remains about even this year.

Honda sold 655,000 vehicles in China last year, out of the 3.56 million it sold worldwide. Chinese sales accounted for 18.4 percent of its overall sales that year, a 1.3 percent increase from 2009 and still lower than the 19.3 percent in the first half of 2011.

Finally, for PSA, Toyota and Ford, Chinese sales make up 12 percent or less of their total sales volume.

According to official reports, sales of PSA vehicles in 2010 (not counting knockdown kit sales) reached 3.13 million units. However, sales in the Chinese market were only 375,600. That is only 12.0 percent of their total sales, a number which has decreased again this year.

Toyota sold 8.42 million vehicles in 2010 (including Daihatsu and Hino vehicle sales). While its official statistics didn't specify Chinese sales, reports from its Chinese sales company reported Toyota as selling 846,000 vehicles in the country that year, which would account for 10.0 percent of its sales overall. Meanwhile, Toyota's sales in the first half of this year totaled 3.72 million units. Only 35,400, or 9.5 percent, of those sales were made in China.

Ford's statistics report a similar trend, with 2010 Chinese sales of 582,500 units accounted for only 10.5 percent of its total sales volume of 5.52 million units. Similar to PSA and Toyota, that figure has fallen again this year.