Sales performance of the Chinese sedan market in July

After a poor showing in June, the Chinese passenger automobile market’s overall performance continues to stumble into July. The sedan market in particular performed poorly. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), only 691,039 sedans were sold in July, down 19.5% from the previous year. Sedan sales only make up 57.3% of all Chinese passenger automobiles sold in the country, down 10 percent points from last year.

The sedan market suffered a great deal of turbulence in July, with sales in the segment as a whole decreasing. German brands, which led the market with sales of 199,927 sedans, representing a sharp sales decrease of 24.2%. Sales of most top German sedan models fell. Own brand, Korean and American sedan sales also fell as well. Own brand sales totaled 122,009 units, down 18.9%. Sales of American and Korean sedans for the month totaled 104,148 units and 62,155 units. Those figures represent respective sales decreases of 28.7% and 37%.

By comparison, Japanese sedan sales broke the overall downward trend in the market. Sales of Japanese sedans increased 15.1%, with a total of 171,200 units sold. Japanese sedans make up the second largest group in the sedan segment, accounting for 24.8% of all sedans sold in the country. This increase in sales is due largely to the popularity of hot-selling models like the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Bluebird Sylphy and Toyota Vios.

The Chinese enterprise with the most sedan sales in July was FAW Volkswagen. It was followed by Shanghai VW, Shanghai GM, FAW Toyota, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, Changan Ford, Guangqi Honda, Geely and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën.

Both VW-affiliated enterprises and Shanghai GM continue to lead the market, with a total of 238,304 sedans sold in July. These three joint ventures account for 34.5% of all sedan sales in China over the course of the month. FAW-VW and Shanghai VW sold 88,862 sedans and 80,325 sedans, respectively. The only major VW sedans that managed to achieve positive sales growth in July were the Audi A3 and Audi A4. Sales of the Jetta, Sagitar and Lavida all saw their sales fall. Shanghai GM’s sedan sales, meanwhile, totaled 69,117 units. The three manufacturers all saw their sedan sales fall around 30% in July.

FAW Toyota’s sedan sales totaled 48,061 units in July, representing year-on-year growth of 17.2%. Sales of the Corolla and Vios, which totaled 27,018 units and 12,915 units, grew 53% and 47.9%, respectively. Sales of fellow Japanese-affiliated JVs Dongfeng Nissan and Guangqi Honda also grew, increasing 4.1% and 11.3%, respectively.

Geely was the only domestic own brand automotive manufacturer to make the top ten sedan sales charts. Geely’s sedan sales increased 57% in July. This impressive result was due in large part to a shift in the manufacturer’s marketing strategy. Sales of the Emgrand EC7 totaled 11,373 units in July, doubling from the amount sold a year ago.