Summary: Chinese subcompact market in May

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - While the Chinese SUV market has been able to sustain high levels of growth, the performance of the sedan market has been lagging behind. This trend is especially evident in the subcompact segment.

According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 536,202 subcompacts were sold in China for the month of May, representing negative year-on-year growth of 9.5%. Analysts have pointed out to increasingly diversified consumer demands, with many households choosing to buy other types of vehicles for their second automobile, as a likely cause behind the decline in subcompact sales.

Several automotive brands have seen this subcompact sales fall in May. Combined sales of German subcompacts for the month totaled 150,800 units, down 15.1% from last year. Aside from new models, sales volumes for most German subcompacts fell. Combined sales for own brands also fell, decreasing 17.1%. This sales decline occurred in spite of the fact that quite a number of new own brand subcompacts have been released lately. It has been attributed to the lack of competitiveness of older models and their poor sales performances. Combined sales of American and Korean brand subcompacts decreased 18.5% and 24.0%, respectively.

However, not all news for the subcompact segment was bleak, with Japanese brands managing to achieve positive year-on-year sales growth. A total of 105,985 Japanese subcompacts were sold in China this May, up 43.6% from last May. Japanese brands account for 19.5% of all subcompacts sold in the country during the month, up 7.3% from the amount a year ago. A great deal of this growth has come from new models including the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Levin and Mazda3 Axela.

The month’s best-selling own brand model was the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy, followed by the VW Lavida, VW Jetta, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, VW Sagitar, VW Santana, Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Excelle and Ford Focus.

The Bluebird Sylphy was the best-selling subcompact of the month, with a total sales volume of 27,700 units. That figure represents year-on-year sales growth of 17.7%. Alongside the Bluebird Sylphy, the other Japanese model that made the rankings was the Corolla, which took the number five spot. A total of 23,000 Corollas were sold in May, far more than the 266 units sold last year.

Several VW models once again achieved top positions on the rankings. A total of four VW models, the Lavida, Jetta, Sagitar and Santana, made the chart. Sales of the Lavida and Jetta totaled 27,240 units and 23,234 units, while sales of the Sagitar and Santana totaled 22,422 units and 19,304 units, respectively. Total monthly sales for the four models decreased 6.6%, 14.1%, 17.7% and 35.0%, respectively.

The Focus saw its ranking falling from second place last May to tenth place this year. Sales of the Focus fell a full 47.3% from 33,341 units sold last May to 17,573 units this May. By comparison, sales of the Elantra increased 15.3%. The Elantra’s total sales of 22,700 units allowed it to rank in the number five spot for the month.