Summary: Top performing Chinese own brand automobile manufacturers in February

Domestic passenger automobile sales in China grew slightly year-on-year in February. This increase in sales was due to the fact that the Chinese New Year festival occurred earlier this year than they did last year. In particular, SUV sales grew by large margins, which proved very helpful to many own brand manufacturers.

Changan Automobile, Geely Automobile and Great Wall Motor were the month’s most successful domestic automobile manufacturers in terms of sales. The three manufacturers all managed to achieve respectable sales growth rates in February. Dongfeng Xiaokang and GAC Motor’s sales also grew by large margins. On the other hand, JAC Motor, BAIC and Haima’s monthly sales all fell from the previous year.

Changan was the largest seller of passenger automobiles in February. The manufacturer sold a total of 93,200 vehicles over the course of the month, up 20.72% year-on-year. Changan has sold 214,900 vehicles since the beginning of the year, up 18.30% year-on-year.

Changan’s new energy vehicle sales were especially commendable. Changan has sold 3,746 new energy vehicles since the beginning of the year, with 2,164 units of those sales being made in February. Sales of Changan’s key models, including the CS75 (pictured above), CS35, CX70, Honor and Oushang, managed to maintain steady sales growth in February.

Geely’s sales increased an outstanding 167% from February 2016 to February of this year, with its monthly sales totaling 88,976 units. Geely has 191,629 vehicles since the beginning of the year, over doubling the amount it sold in the first two months of 2016 and completing around one-fifth of its annual sales goal.

Both Geely’s sedan and SUV models garnered strong sales results in February. Sales of the New Emgrand and Vision sedans totaled 20,743 units and 14,166 units, increasing 46% and 69% year-on-year, respectively. The Emgrand GL also managed commendable sales of 8,027 units, despite suffering from production limitations. Meanwhile, Geely’s two premier SUV models, the Boyue and Vision SUV, performed strongly, with their sales in February totaling 20,137 units and 10,014 units respectively. The Vision SUV continues to be one of the most highly praised SUV in the 80,000 RMB price bracket. Monthly sales of the Emgrand GS, which also suffered from production shortages, totaled 8,060 units.

Geely sales goal for this year is set at one million units. The manufacturer has announced plans to release a number of new products, including a brand new MPV, with the aim of expanding its coverage in the domestic automotive market.

According to its officially released sales statistics, Great Wall sold a total of 77,500 vehicles in February, up 30.68% year-on-year. Great Wall sold 168,700 vehicles in the first two months of the year, representing a year-on-year increase of 12.56%.

Great Wall’s Haval H6 remains the manufacturer’s best-selling model, with a total of 33,700 units sold in February. However, its sales grew a meager 1.88% year-on-year. That said, Great Wall saw unexpected success from its Haval H2 compact SUV. Sales of the Haval H2 (pictured above) in February totaled 25,100 units, over doubling from the previous year. Great Wall’s sedan sales remain lackluster.

Great Wall previously announced its plans to sell two million vehicles by 2020 at an event celebrating its millionth sale last month. The manufacturer also announced an upcoming revision to the Haval H6 at the event.