Summary: Great Wall's overall sales performance in 2011

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - In 2011, when most automobile manufacturers in China were struggling to cope with less than ideal market conditions, own brand manufacturer Great Wall managed to sell a total of 462,700 vehicles, maintaining solid sales growth of 27.3 percent. The Hebei-based manufacturer's sedan division performed particularly strongly, with total sedan sales increasing 52.6 percent from the previous year. Great Wall was also wise enough to pay attention to its overseas markets last year, with its exports totaling 30,500 units, growing 77.9 percent from 2010. A brief summary of the manufacturer's sales and sales growth follows.

Great Wall's sales growth of 27.3 percent last year surpassed the industry average and was well above of that of most other domestic manufacturers. Great Wall's export business contributed significantly to the manufacturer's growth. Exports accounted for 78,300 units, or 17.1 percent, of all of the manufacturer's sales last year. Export sales increased 58.7 percent from 2010, compared with a year-on-year growth rate of 22.3 percent for domestic sales.

Sedans constituted the majority of Great Wall's sales last year, with a total of 187,500 units sold. This marks the first time sedan sales surpassed those of SUVs, of which 147,300 units were sold. From 2008, when Great Wall first entered the sedan market, sedans have grown from constituting only 8.1 percent of the manufacturer's overall sales to well over one-third now. Sales of pickup trucks, meanwhile, totaled 121,700 units last year, growing 26.3 percent. Over the past four years, pickup trucks have played an increasingly less important role in Great Wall's overall business.

Sedans also happened to be Great Wall's fastest growing vehicle type in China. Domestic sales of Great Wall sedans increased 52.2 percent last year, the third year in a row that their growth rate surpassed that of SUVs. Chinese sales of pickup trucks grew 15.6 percent, while SUV sales fell 2.5 percent.

However, SUVs were still Great Wall's quickest growing segment overseas. The manufacturer's SUV exports last year totaled 30,548 units, growing 77.9 percent from 2010. Also, despite their performance in China, pickups remained the manufacturer's most popular vehicle type overseas, with a total of 36,404 units sold, increasing 46.3 percent from the previous year. Sedan sales were approximately one-third of that number, with a total of 12,173 units sold.