Summary: Status of the Chinese passenger automobile market in August

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - Despite the fact that the Chinese passenger automotive market began to show signs of recovery in August, it still failed to live up to expectations. August marks the third consecutive month this year that market sales were less than those of 2014.

According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 1.36 million passenger automobiles were sold in August. While that figure represents positive growth of 13.4% from July, it is 1.1% less than the amount sold last August. A total of 12.11 million passenger automobiles have been sold from January to August of the year, representing slight year-on-year growth of 4.7%.

Over half of the top ten enterprises in the passenger automotive market have suffered negative year-on-year sales growth rates in August. FAW Volkswagen led the sales charts this month with sales of 130,900 passenger automobiles, down 12.9% from last year. It was followed by Shanghai GM, Shanghai VW, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, Changan Automobile, Changan Ford, Great Wall Motor and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën. SAIC-GM-Wuling, Changan Automobile and Great Wall were among the few automotive manufacturers that managed to post significant sales growth in August.

Combined passenger automobile sales of domestic own brand enterprises grew in August. A total of 501,500 own brand passenger automobiles were sold in August, up 11.6% from a year ago. Own brands models accounted for 36.7% of all passenger automobiles sold in August, up 4.1% from a year ago. Own brand SUVs were especially successful, as they made up nearly half of all own brand models sold in the course of the month. A total of 246,300 own brand SUVs were sold in August, up 64.7% from last year’s figures. By comparison, sales of own brand minivans and sedans fell 6.8% and 20.7%, respectively.

By comparison, sales of foreign branded passenger automobiles continued to fall in August. A total of 865,800 foreign brand passenger automobiles were sold during the course of the month, down 63.3% from last August. Only Japanese brands managed to achieve positive sales growth in August, with monthly sales of Japanese brand passenger automobiles totaling 228,200 units, up 0.9% from last August. By comparison, sales of Korean, US and German passenger automobiles fell 26.6%, 5.1% and 3.5% respectively.

Analysis clearly shows that SUVs remain the driving source for passenger automobile sales in August. Overall, 469,000 SUVs were sold in China over the course of the month, up 47.7% from the last August and accounting for 29.6% of all passenger automobiles sold over the course of the month. By comparison, monthly sales volumes of sedans and minivans have fallen from last August. Sedan sales fell 16.3% to 763,800 units, while minivan sales fell 9.2% to 134,500 units.

The small SUV segment continues to be strong. Small SUVs sales in August totaled 123,900 units, representing year-on-year growth of 75%. A total of 1.05 million small SUVs have been sold over the first eight months of year, representing year-on-year growth of 144.6%. Compact SUVs still make the majority of the SUV market, accounting for 56.3% of all SUV sales in the country. A total of 264,000 compact SUVs were sold in August, up 31.8% from the previous year.

The Great Wall Haval H6 was the best-selling SUV in August, followed by the VW Tiguan, SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 560, JAC Refine S3, GAC Trumpchi GS4, Changan CS35, Honda XR-V, Changan CS75, Great Wall Haval H2 and Nissan X-Trail. The performance of new models on the list was especially commendable, with the Baojun 560 and Trumpchi GS4 sales’ totaling 17,100 units and 14,300 units, respectively.

Things in the sedan market were a different story, with sales as a whole decreasing. Sales of the subcompact and compact segments have decreased over 30%.

The Buick Excelle was China’s best-selling sedan model in August, followed by the VW Lavida, Nissan Bluebird Sylphy, VW Sagitar, VW Jetta, VW Golf, Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze, VW New Bora and VW Passat. The Excelle soared to the top of charts with a total of 30,200 vehicle sales.

The minivan segment consisted mainly of old models getting ready to be replaced by newer models. The SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang still continues to lead the market with total monthly sales of 44,300 units, down 21.7 from last year. By comparison, sales of the runner-up Baojun 730 increased 90.9% to 22,900 units. The Hongguang and Baojun 730 were followed by the Beijing Weiwang M20, Dongfeng Fengxing Lingzhi, Buick GL8, Changan Honor, JAC Refine, Dongfeng Fengguang 330, Geely Karry K50 and Honda Odyssey.