With the introduction of effective economic stimulus policies and the traditional buying craze in the lead up to Chinese New Year, the Chinese passenger automotive market ushered in a resurgence in November. According to Gasgoo.com (Chinese) statistics, a total of 2.11 million automobiles were sold in the country over the course of the month, representing year-on-year growth of 24.6% compared to the 1.69 million automobiles sold last November. Both the monthly sales volume and year-on-year sales growth rate were record highs for the year. A total of 17.81 million automobiles have been sold in China from January to November, representing year-on-year growth of 8.2%.
Various manufacturers in the market have benefited from this increase in sales as a whole. Domestic own brand manufacturers posted the most impressive performance, with a total of 831,932 own brand passenger automobiles sold in November, representing strong sales growth of 30.6%. Own brands saw their share in the passenger automotive market increase to 39.3%. Own brands benefited greatly from SUV sales, with over 47% of all SUVs sold in the country being made by own brands.
Among foreign brands, German brand passenger automobiles achieved high sales growth of 31.4% in November, with their monthly sales totaling 400,276 units. Japanese and American brand passenger automobile sales, which totaled 351,357 units and 270,808 units, also enjoyed good double-digit sales growth rates of 18.7% and 22.8%, respectively. Korean and French passenger automobile sales grew 11.5% and 7.3%, respectively.
SUVs remained the major driver of passenger automobile sales growth in November. A total of 715,083 SUVs were sold in November, up 69.5% from the previous year. SUVs accounted for 33.8% of all passenger automobiles sold in the country, up 9 percentage points from last November.
The sedan market, whose sales have contracted over the year, have seen some recovery in November, with a total of 1.17 million sedans sold over the course of the month. Sedan sales, which accounted for over 55% of all passenger automobiles sold in November, grew 9.0% from last year. Minivan sales in November totaled 231,356 units, representing year-on-year growth of 14.0%.
