Own brand automobile sales in August

Chinese domestic own brand automobile manufacturers performed strongly in August, as their combined market share continued to grow. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 501,500 own brand passenger automobiles were sold in August, up 11.6%. Own brands accounted for 36.7% of all passenger automobiles sold in the country over the course of the month, up 4.1 percentage points from last August.

A total of 4.51 million own brand passenger automobiles were sold over the first eight months of the year, representing positive year-on-year growth of 22%. That growth rate is 5% higher than the market average. Own brands constituted 37.3% of all passenger automobiles solve over the first eight months of the year, up 5.2 percentage points from the previous year.

1.36 million passenger automobiles were sold over the course of the month, down 1.1% from last year. 12.11 million passenger automobiles were sold from January to August, representing positive year-on-year growth of 5%.

Changan was the best-selling domestic passenger automobile brand. It was followed by Haval (Great Wall), Wuling (SAIC-GM-Wuling), Baojun, Geely, Chery, BYD, JAC, BAIC and Trumpchi (GAC). The Wuling brand, previously the best-selling Chinese brand, has seen its sales decrease a considerable 20.6% as its best-seller Hongguang van leaves the market. This has allowed Changan and Haval to overtake the Wuling brand. The two brands’ passenger automobile sales totaled 58,600 units and 47,300 units, representing year-on-year growth of 15.7% and 44.1%, respectively.

Aside from Wuling, sales of a few other own brand models also fell in August. Sales of Chery and BYD brand vehicles fell 12.6% and 16.9%, respectively.

The SUV segment continues to lead own brand automobile sales, constituting 49.1% of all own brand automobiles sold in August. A total of 246,300 own brand SUVs were sold in August, up 64.7% from the previous year. By contrast, sales of sedans and minivans decreased 6.8% and 20.7%, respectively.

Despite falling sales, the SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang was still the best-selling own brand model in August. It was followed by the Great Wall Haval H6, SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 730, SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun 560, JAC Refine S3, GAC Trumpchi GS4, Changan CS35, Changan CS75, Great Wall Haval H2 and Geely Emgrand EC7. SUV models made up seven of the vehicles on the top ten sales chart, while minivans and sedans have only taken two spots and one spot, respectively.