Summary: Overview of the Chinese passenger automotive market in September

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - After a continuous decrease from June, the Chinese passenger automotive market began to show slight signs of recovery in September. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 1.69 million passenger automobiles were sold in China in the month of September, up 6.1% from the 1.61 million automobiles sold last September. 13.8 million passenger automobiles have been sold in the country from January to September, representing positive year-on-year growth of 5.2%.

The performance of the market in September has raised hopes that the market will continue to remain strong into the final quarter of the year. Another reason for this optimism is a new policy that will come into effect in November,, which will temporarily halve taxes for buyers purchasing new vehicles with engines measuring 1.6 L or smaller.

Among different automobile manufacturers, domestic own brand enterprises performed especially well. A total of 635,800 own brand passenger automobiles were sold in September, representing year-on-year growth of 15.8%. Own brand enterprises have performed particularly strongly in the SUV segment. Own brand SUV sales totaled 305,000 units in September, growing a full 72.4% from the amount sold a year ago and making up nearly half of all own brand vehicles sold in the month. By comparison, sales of own brand sedans and minivans have fallen 2.5% and 16.6% year-on-year, respectively.

Sales of Japanese and German brand passenger automobiles also grew in September. This was especially good for Japanese brand vehicles, which experienced sales growth of 16.1% with a total of 293,400 vehicles sold over the course of the month. Sales of German passenger automobiles grew 2.2%. By comparison, sales of American, Korean and French brand vehicles experienced negative growth of 2.9%, 12.2% and 5.2%, respectively.

Judging the market by segment composition, the proportion of sales coming from SUV models grew, while those of minivans and sedans decreased. A total of 580,000 SUVs were sold, up 62.8% from the previous September. By comparison, sedan and minivan sales totaled 956,000 units and 162,800 units, down 10.6% and down 4.6%, respectively.

Aside from own brand manufacturers, Japanese brands performed the best in the SUV segment, with their monthly SUV sales growing 87.3% year-on-year. Sales of German, American, Korean and French brands increased 24.1%, 42.3%, 48.4% and 36.0%, respectively.

The Great Wall Haval H6 was September’s best-selling SUV. It was followed by SAIC-GM-Wuling’s Baojun 560, VW Tiguan, GAC’s Trumpchi GS4, Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail, Changan CS75, Changan CS35, JAC’s Refine S3 and the Buick Envision. The Baojun 560’s performance in particular was especially commendable, as it ranked number two in the sales charts. Also worth noting is the Trumpchi GS4, which is a brand new model.

The sedan market in China was another story, with sales of all different brands decreasing. The German and Japanese segments performed relatively better, with negative sales growth rates of 0.8% and 3%, respectively. By comparison, sales of own brands, American and Korean brand sedans all suffered negative sales growth rates in the double digits.

The Buick Excelle was the best-selling sedan in September. It was followed by the VW Lavida, Nissan Bluebird Sylphy, VW Sagitar, Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Cruze, VW Santana, Changan Eado, VW New Bora and Chevrolet New Sail. The majority of these models saw their sales decrease from a year ago, with only the Excelle, Bluebird Sylphy, Corolla and New Bora managing to achieve positive sales growth.

The best-selling minivan model for the month of September was the SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang, followed by the SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 730, BAIC Weiwang M20, Changan Honor, Dongfeng Fengxing Lingzhi , Buick GL8, Dongfeng Fengguang 330, Jinbei 750, JAC Refine and Honda Odyssey.