Sales performance of passenger automobile manufacturers in May

As recently released statistics gathered by China Passenger Car Association and compiled by Gasgoo.com (Chinese) show, the joint ventures FAW-VW and Shanghai VW continue to lead the Chinese automobile market in May.

Leader FAW-VW has managed to sell 150,275 new vehicles in the month of May, marking the second month that the JV has ranked on the top of the sales charts. However, Shanghai VW was close behind in second place, as its monthly sales volume lagged by a mere 872 units. Shanghai VW’s sales was especially commendable, as the JV’s sales increased 20.0% year-on-year, with key models such as the Jetta, Sagitar and New Bora managing to post sales growth rates in the double digits. Shanghai VW sales’ in May totaled 149,403 units, with over 800,000 automobiles sold from January to May, representing year-on-year growth of 1.9%. Slightly over a quarter of the JV’s sales came from just one model: the New Lavida.

Shanghai GM ranked third in the monthly sales charts, with a total of 141,169 automobiles sold in May, representing year-on-year growth of 15.0%. Two models in particular, the New Excelle and Envision, achieved impressive sales growth rates of 81.6% and 39.9% in May. Sales of the Envision totaled 19,150 units in May, surpassing the VW Tiguan to be the best-selling foreign brand SUV of the month.

Beijing Hyundai’s sales also passed the 100,000 units mark, with its sales growing 25.4% year-on-year. However, that sales amount is 5.4% less than figures reported a year ago.

Rounding up the month’s top ten best performing automobile manufacturers were Dongfeng Nissan, Changan Automobile, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Great Wall Motor, FAW Toyota and Guangqi Honda. The top ten automobile manufacturers combined for 56.3% of all automobiles sold in the country over the course of the month.

Beginning last September, SAIC-GM-Wuling’s monthly sales have been above the 10,000 unit mark. However, the Sino-American JV managed to sell just 81,658 automobiles in May, with only its Hongguang and Baojun 560 managing to achieve positive sales growth. Sales of the Baojun 730, for example, have been continuously falling since last December, when its sales totaled 47,060 units. Just 14,060 Baojun 730s were sold in May. Other own brand MPVs, including the Changan Oushang and Dongfeng Fengxing S500, have been ready to take the sales from the Baojun 730.

Changan Automobile continues to be the country’s best performing own brand manufacturer, with its monthly sales totaling 86,174 units. Great Wall Motor lagged slightly behind with monthly sales of 63,515 units, representing year-on-year growth of 10.0%. Fellow own brand manufacturer, GAC Trumpchi, also posted impressive figures, with its sales growing 181.9% year-on-year. 86.4% of GAC Trumpchi’s 30,102 sales came from the GS4.

By contrast, Changan Ford and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën’s sales performances in May left much to be desired, with their sales falling 17.3% and 22.1%, respectively. JAC Motor, Dongfeng Liuzhou and FAW Car also suffered negative year-on-year sales growth in the month.