Foreign brand passenger automobile sales in April

Compared with the startlingly rapid sales growth of own brand manufacturers, the performance of Sino-foreign joint venture automotive enterprises has been far from stellar. The combined sales growth rate for joint venture manufacturers during the first quarter of the year was a mere 1.4 percent, with the growth rate for the month of April actually dipping into the red. The combined market share held by JVs has also decreased.

According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 996,227 joint venture brand passenger automobiles were sold in the country in the month of April, 1.7% less than the 1.01 million automobiles sold in April of 2014. This marks the second month this year that sales rates for JV companies decreased. This recent fall in passenger automobile sales was mainly due to the poor performance of the sedan market, with only 746,921 JV branded sedans sold during the month, down 7.4% from the previous year. By comparison, total sales of SUVs and minivans increased 21.6% and 9.9%, respectively.

The best performing multinational enterprise in terms of sales numbers in the passenger automotive market for the month was Volkswagen (whose sales include those of Audi). It was followed by Hyundai Kia, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Nissan, PSA, BMW and Mazda.

VW’s total Chinese passenger automobile sales for April was 272,302 units, down 11.4% from the amount sold the previous April. The majority of VW and Audi models saw their sales fall, with sales volumes for the Magotan and Lavida falling 57.5% and 34.2%, respectively. Sales of other key models, such as the Jetta, Sagitar and Passat, also decreased.

Hyundai Kia’s total passenger automobile sales volume for April was 146,294, representing a slight year-on-year increase of 2.5%. Although a large number of Hyundai and Kia models posted subpar performances, the manufacturer was able to thrive thanks to the success of new vehicles like the Hyundai ix25, Kia K4 and Kia KX3.

The fortunes of the top two American brands, GM and Ford, were wildly different. The former, whose monthly sales totaled 108,296 units, saw its sales fall 16.7%, while the latter, whose monthly sales were 72,579 units, reported positive year-on-year sales growth of 6.5%. GM’s declining performance was due mainly to the large fall in Cadillac sales, with Chinese sales for the brand totaling just 1,327 units.

Toyota and Honda both reported respective positive year-on-year sales growth rates of 13.1% and 49.7% in April, while Nissan suffered negative year-on-year sales growth of 15.3%, despite the strong performance of its new X-Trail. Fellow Japanese manufacturer Mazda also reported commendable sales growth of 48.9%. The manufacturer’s monthly Chinese sales increased from 13,208 units to 19,663 units, with a large part of that growth due to the popularity of its Mazda3 Axela and Mazda6 Axela.

BMW’s sales totaled 22,310 units, representing a growth rate drop of 9.8%. The decline of sales of the BMW X1 was in the double digits. PSA’s total sales for month was 66,060 units, representing sales growth of 6.2%. Sales of the Citroën Elysée and Peugeot 408 both exceeded the ten thousand mark.