Summary: Top ten manufacturers in the Chinese passenger automobile market in July 2014

FAW Volkswagen was China's best performing passenger automobile manufacturer in the month of July. It was followed by Shanghai VW, Shanghai GM, Beijing Hyundai, Changan Ford, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën, FAW Toyota and Changan Automobile.

FAW-VW sold a total of 142,300 vehicles over the course of the month, achieving year-on-year sales growth of 8.1 percent. July marks the fifth consecutive time this year that the joint venture has led the monthly sales charts.

However, the JV still trails behind rival Shanghai VW in terms of total sales in this year. Shanghai VW has sold 1.07 million vehicles over the first seven months of the year, compared to the 1.05 million FAW-VW has sold so far. The two JV's overall sales figures represent year-on-year growth of 20.8 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively.

Shanghai VW sold 133,000 vehicles in July, placing second in the monthly sales rankings. It was followed by Shanghai GM, which sold 120,300 vehicles, finishing in a comfortable third spot. Shanghai GM has sold 945,300 vehicles since the beginning of the year, noticeably far behind both VW joint ventures.

Ever since the Diaoyu Island debacle, which saw a lot of Japanese enterprises face a backlash from Chinese consumers, Beijing Hyundai has managed to climb to the forefront of second-tier automobile manufacturers. It recovered its now typical fourth place position in July with monthly sales of 80,200 vehicles.

Dongfeng Nissan, which outsold Beijing Hyundai last month, fell to seventh place this month. Its monthly sales of 57,000 vehicles was a full 18.6 percent less than the amount it sold a year ago. Dongfeng Nissan explained the sales decline by saying that it was focusing is resources on preparing for August. Inventory modifications and a particularly hot week in July were two other reasons the JV cited to explain its sales performance.

The only other Japanese-affiliated JV to appear in the monthly rankings, FAW Toyota, sold 58,200 vehicles over the course of July, achieving year-on-year growth of 28.5 percent. This marks the first time that the JV has made the top ten monthly sales rankings this year, finishing in ninth place.

Changan Ford sold a total of 64,500 vehicles in July, finishing fifth in the rankings. The New Mondeo played a major role in helping the JV achieve this performance. New models also proved crucial for the monthly performances of SAIC-GM-Wuling, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën and Changan Automobile. Among these three, Changan Automobile receives special mention as being China's best performing own brand automobile manufacturer in the month of July.