Summary: August 2014 sales of foreign brand passenger automobiles in China

According to statistics compiled by Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 922,600 foreign brand passenger automobiles were sold in August. That figure is 10.1 percent higher than the amount reported in August 2013, and signifies that sales of foreign brand passenger automobiles have been keeping pace with average market growth. Foreign brands now dominate 67 percent of total passenger automobile market sales. A total of 7.79 million foreign brand passenger automobiles have been sold from January to August, representing year-on-year growth of 16.1 percent. The combined market share held by foreign brand manufacturers for that time period increased by 1.3 percent.

In the month of August, only Japanese brands managed to post growth rates exceeding the market average. A total of 224,100 Japanese brand automobiles were sold over the course of the month, representing year-on-year growth of 10.4 percent. Toyota's sales are especially worth of mentioning; the manufacturer's sales grew a full 15.7 percent thanks to sales of its new Vios, Levin, Yaris L and New Corolla. Sales growth rates of the other two top Japanese brands Nissan and Honda were not nearly as high.

By comparison, sales growth rates for German, American and Korean brand vehicles were all under the market average. A total of 315,000 German brand vehicles were sold in the month, sales of American and Korean brands totaled 191,000 vehicles and 131,000 Korean vehicles, respectively.

However, when looking at cumulative sales figures for the first eight months of the year, German brands' outperformed their rivals when it came to sales volume and sales growth. A total of 2.68 million German branded automobiles were sold from January to August, growing 20.1 percent from the previous year. By comparison, only 1.59 million American vehicles, while sales of Japanese and Korean brands totaled 1.89 million vehicles and 112 million vehicles, respectively. Year-on-year sales growth for American, Japanese and Korean branded automobiles for the first eight months of the year were 14.2 percent, 12.5 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively.

The Volkswagen brand, which also includes Audi, was the best selling foreign passenger automobile brand in China in August. It was followed by Hyundai Kia, GM, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, PSA, Honda, BMW and Suzuki.

Sales growth rates for the top three brands - VW, Hyundai Kia and GM - were in the very stable 5 percent to 6 percent range. A total of 280,400 VWs were sold in August. VW sales grew a meager 5.9 percent, notably less than the sales growth rates it recorded for the previous months. This decline in growth was due in large part to Shanghai VW's reforms of its manufacturing processes.

Hyundai Kia sold a total of 131,000 vehicles in China in August through its joint ventures Beijing Hyundai and Dongfeng Yueda Kia. While Beijing Hyundai's monthly sales volume was almost unchanged from last August, Dongfeng Yueda Kia's sales grew an astounding 16.7 percent.

A total of 130,600 GM vehicles were sold in August, up 5.6 percent from last year's figures.

Thanks to the warm reception their new models have received, Toyota and Ford reported relatively high sales growth rates of 15.7 percent and 13 percent, respectively. BMW and Suzuki's sales growth were even more astounding, both exceeding the 30 percent mark.

By comparison, Nissan and Honda's sales grew just 1.4 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.