SUV sales in China have been the major driver of growth for the passenger automotive market. Despite a decline in passenger automobile sales this year, the SUV segment’s performance has continued to remain strong. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 9.53 million passenger automobiles have been sold over the first half of the year. The figure represents slight positive growth of 7.4%, far less than the double digit rates from previous years. 2.71 million of those sales were of SUVs, up a full 48.0% from last year. By comparison, minivan sales increased 16.8% while sedan sales fell 6.0%.
The Great Wall Haval H6 was the best-selling SUV in the Chinese market over the first half of the year. It was followed by the VW Tiguan, JAC Refine S3, Changan CS35, Changan CS75, Great Wall Haval H2, BAIC S3, Nissan X-Trail, Ford Kuga and Buick Envision. Six of the ten models on the list came from domestic own brand manufacturers.
The Haval H6’s sales over the first six months of the year totaled 172,006 units, up 20.2% from numbers from the same time a year ago. The Haval H6 has helped cement Great Wall’s position as the country’s leading SUV manufacturer. Sales of the fellow Great Wall model Haval H2 over the same time frame totaled 77,158 units. As a brand new model, the Haval H2 has managed to achieve monthly sales of over 10,000 units.
Another new model, the JAC Refine S3, also performed strongly. A total of 91,859 S3s were sold over the first half of the year. The fact that the SUV has been able to achieve such a strong sales performance is due in large part to its extremely spacious interior.
Two models from leading own brand manufacturer Changan Automobile made the top ten SUV sales charts: the CS35 and the CS75. Sales of the CS35 for the first half of the year totaled 88,754 units, up 65.2%, while sales of the CS75 totaled 86,909 units, far above the 5,971 units sold from January to June of last year.
BAIC’s S3 also made the sales charts. A total of 72,822 S3s were sold from January to June of this year, up from just 8,137 units sold a year ago.
The VW Tiguan was the best performing foreign brand SUV, with total sales of 131,563 units. Fellow foreign brand models, the Nissan X-Trail, Ford Kuga and Buick Envision, also made the top ten SUV sales chart. The X-Trail, which has been a major player in the Chinese market for several years, saw its sales nearly double from last year. Meanwhile the Envision, another new model, has managed to achieve sales of over 10,000 units on a monthly basis.
