Own brands continue to perform strongly in Chinese SUV market

As the SUV market continues to grow, domestic own brand manufacturers' performance in the segment remains quite strong. According to a report appearing on the China Economic Net today, Great Wall sold approximately 70,000 SUVs in China in January. The figure represents growth of 69.2 percent from the previous year and 14 percent from the previous month.

Geely’s SUV sales also grew significantly. Combined sales of the GX7, SX7 and GX9 in 2014 totaled 7,675 units, up 178 percent from 2,760 units sold the previous year. Geely hopes to sell 450,000 vehicles this year, 8 percent up from its total sales in 2014

Great Wall, China’s leading SUV manufacturer, also reported a strong SUV sales performance in January. The manufacturer sold nearly 70,000 SUVs in January, representing year-on-year growth of 69.2 percent. As the manufacturer’s pickup truck and sedan sales continue to shrink, Great Wall continues to shift more of its focus to the SUV segment. Great Wall aims to achieve total sales of 850,000 vehicles, a large majority of which will be of SUVs.

While China Association of Automobile Manufacturers Secretary General Dong Yang expressed his worries that own brand manufacturers will be able to maintain their sales performance, especially in the face of increasing competition from joint ventures’ new products. However, he hopes that they will continue to perform strongly.