Summary: Chinese passenger automobile market in November

A total of 2.55 million passenger automobiles were sold in China this November. That figure is a slight .2% than the 2.54 million sold in November of 2016. Both the sedan and MPV segments saw their sales decrease, while the SUV segment achieved good growth, with total sales increasing 9.1% year-on-year. With 2017 coming to an end, the SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang made a comeback; a total 56,200 Hongguangs were sold in November, making it the month’s best-selling passenger automobile model. In second place with 54,100 sales was Great Wall’s Haval H6. The SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 510 finished in third, with 49,900 units. The best-selling sedan of the month, the VW Lavida, ranked fourth in the overall sales chart with a total of 47,600 units sold.

November was a mixed month for the Chinese passenger automobile market, with nine of the 20 best-selling models seeing their sales decrease. However the top five selling models all saw their sales increase from October by a substantial margin. The SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 310 and Geely Boyue were the only two models to achieve considerable year-on-year sales growth rates in November.

Chinese sedan sales in November totaled 1.21 million units, which was down 5.2% year-on-year and slightly higher than the previous month. A total of 1.06 million sedans have been sold in the country from January to November, down 2.2% year-on-year. Sedans account for 49.3% of all passenger automobiles sales.

The VW Lavida recovered to lead the sedan sales charts once again. Monthly sales of the Lavida totaled 47,600 units, up 11.3% year-on-year. In second place was the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy, whose November sales totaled 41,600 units, 7.9% less than the amount sold a year ago. The third place entry, the Buick New Excelle, saw its sales recover in November, increasing 6.9% year-on-year to 38,000 units.

The VW Jetta fell into fourth place; a total of 31,900 Jettas were sold in November, representing slight year-on-year growth of 4.6%. Just behind was the Toyota Corolla, with total sales of 31,200 units, which was slightly up from last month but down from last year.

The SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 310 was the top-selling domestic own brand sedan model of the month, with a total of 31,000 units sold in November. Sales of the Baojun 310 over doubled in November. The second best performing own brand sedan model of November was the Geely Emgrand EC7, whose sales totaled 27,700 units. November marked the first month that the Geely Vision made it into the top 20 rankings.

The Chevrolet Cavalier, Hyundai Langdong and Chevrolet Malibu all achieved strong positive year-on-year sales growth rates in November.

A total of 1.12 million SUVs were sold in November, up 9.1% year-on-year. Cumulative SUV sales over the first 11 months of the year totaled 9.14 million units, representing year-on-year growth of 14.9% and accounting for 42.3% of all passenger automobiles sales made in the country.

The Great Wall Haval H6 continued to lead the SUV sales charts with a total of 54,100 units sold, a full 23.0% more than the amount sold last year and also slightly more than the amount sold the previous month. In second place with 49,900 sales was the SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 510, whose sales also increased from the previous month. Behind that was the Geely Boyue, who achieved considerable year-on-year sales growth of 66.7%, allowing it to break into the top three. The best-selling joint venture SUV model of the month was the VW Tiguan, which was overtaken by the Boyue and finished in fourth place with 28,800 units sold, up 10.2% year-on-year. Sales of the GAC Trumpchi GS4 fell 26.5% year-on-year to 23,700 units, allowing it to be surpassed by the Changan CS75, which finished in fifth with total monthly sales of 26,500 units, representing positive year-on-year growth of 20.4%.

The five SUV models in November’s top 20 sales chart which achieved notably high year-on-year sales growth rates were the Haval H6, Trumpchi GS4, Buick Envision, Hyundai New Tucson and Honda XR-V, with the H6 and Envision managing to make solid recoveries thanks to highly anticipated redesigns. Other models which saw their sales increase included the Honda CR-V, Changan CS35, Geely Emgrand GS, Geely Vision SUV and Dongfeng Fengxing Joyear SUV.

Total MPV sales in November reached 21,450 units, representing a decrease of 9.7% year-on-year. The leading SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang’s sales continued to fall, though it still led the segment by a considerable margin with total sales of 56,200 units. In second place was the fellow SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 730, whose sales totaled 32,100, down 27.7% year-on-year. In third place was the best-selling JV MPV model, the Buick GL8, monthly sales of which totaled 14,300 units, representing commendable year-on-year growth of 58.7%. Several new models cracked into the top 10 sales charts this month, including the BYD Song Max, which managed to sell over 10,000 units, and the Buick GL8.