Own brand manufacturers’ performance in the Chinese automobile market from January to February

Domestic own brand manufacturers have had a strong start this year, with their sales performance above the market average. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 1.28 million own brand passenger automobiles have been sold over the first two months of the year. That figure represents year-on-year growth of 30.2 percent, far above the market average growth rate of 11.2 percent. Own brands currently control a 39.4 percent stake in the market, up 5.8 percent from a year ago.

Changan was the best performing own brand manufacturer in terms of sales for the first two months of the year, followed by Great Wall, Geely, BYD and Chery. The top four own brand manufacturers all experienced positive year-on-year sales growth.

Chery has seen its sales fall 7.9 percent, having managed to sell 69,000 vehicles over the first two months of the year. Although its total sales fell, Chery’s product structure is much more stable this year, with the manufacturer’s key businesses earning it a profit. SUVs play a major part of Chery’s sales revenues, with sales of the Tiggo3 totaling 17,600 units over the first two months of the year. The Tiggo3 is currently the fourth-best selling model in China’s fiercely competitive small SUV segment.

Changan and Geely have both achieved rapid sales growth of over 60 percent, allowing them to jump far up the rankings.

Changan’s total sales grew 72.6 percent, totaling 205,800 units and allowing the manufacturer to jump to the top of the sales charts. In the total sales charts, Changan finished in the fourth place spot, just behind the three joint venture juggernauts FAW-VW, Shanghai VW and Shanghai GM. Changan owes its success of the Honor, Eado, CS35 and CS75, sales of which totaled 39,500 units, 38,000 units, 35,500 units and 25,900 units, respectively.

Geely, for its part, achieved year-on-year sales growth of 65.1 percent with cumulative total sales of 92,200 units from January to February. Geely’s success has been due to its new marketing strategy and the success of its new models. The Emgrand EC7 has been especially successful, with its sales doubling. Sales of the EC7 actually surpassed those of the Eado, ranking as the best selling own-brand sedan in the country. Sales of the Geely GX7 were also very good.

Great Wall and BYD also experienced commendable positive year-on-year sales growth of just under 25 percent during the two month time period. The former benefited from the sales of the Haval H6, Haval H2 and Haval H1, while the latter saw success with its F3 sedan.