Summary: Chinese MPV market from January to April

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - Despite rapid growth in the past few years, the pace of the Chinese MPV market’s acceleration has slowed down as of late. According to statistics compiled by Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 863,000 MPVs were sold from January to April, representing year-on-year growth of 9.8%, far less than the 30% to 40% growth rates the market achieved in previous years.

Domestic own brand manufacturers continue to dominate China’s MPV market, with a total of 792,000 MPV sales from January to April being of own brand models. The figure represents year-on-year growth of 12.1% and account for 91.8% of all MPVs sold in the country, up 1.8 percentage points.

By comparison, only 71,000 foreign brand MPVs were sold from January to April, down 10.4% year-on-year. Japanese MPV sales totaled 34,000 units, down 5.3% year-on-year. Meanwhile American and German MPV sales fell 17.1% and 10.6%, respectively. Lack of competitive MPV models have prevented foreign brands from being able to compete with their own brand rivals in the market.

The SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang continues to lead the MPV sales charts, followed by the SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 730, Changan Honor, BAIC Weiwang M30, Dongfeng Xiaokang Fengguang 330, Dongfeng Fengxing Lingzhi, BAIC Yinxiang Huansu H3, Changan Oushang, Dongfeng Xiaokang Fengguang 370 and Dongfeng Fengxing S500. No foreign models managed to take the top ten, with the best-selling foreign MPV, the Buick GL8, falling outside of the charts.

The Hongguang’s lead in the market is undisputed, with a total of 207,000 units being sold from January to April, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all MPV sales made in China during the four-month period. That said, the Hongguang’s sales have actually fallen 14.6% year-on-year during that time period, while its market share receded 6.9 percentage points. In April alone, the Hongguang’s sales fell 24.6% year-on-year, allowing it to lose its coveted position as the country’s best-selling passenger automobile. This is the inevitable result of increased competition from new models.

SAIC-GM-Wuling has not been pinning all its hopes on a single model, however. Sales of the Baojun 730 totaled 113,000 units, representing year-on-year growth of 2.1%. Sales of the Baojun 730 have also been decreasing, falling from over 40,000 units sold in January to less than 20,000 units sold in April, when year-on-year sales growth reached a low of negative 42.0%.

No other MPV models managed to break the 10,000 sales mark, with the Changan Honor coming closest with sales of 72,000 units, down 1.0% year-on-year. The majority of the other models on the list have been on the market for less than a year, with the Changan Oushang having only been released this January. Despite its short time on the market, the Oushang has managed to accumulate 34,000 sales since January.