According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), Shanghai VW was the largest seller of passenger automobiles in China in the year 2015. The joint venture, whose total annual sales exceeded 1.8 million units, was followed by Shanghai GM, FAW-VW, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Nissan, Changan Automobile, Changan Ford, Great Wall Motor and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën. Six of these ten manufacturers managed to sell over one million passenger automobiles in 2015. The two domestic own brand manufacturers making the top ten list, Changan and Great Wall, reported significant year-on-year growth over the course of the year.
The top three manufacturers as usual were the big three of Shanghai VW, Shanghai GM and FAW-VW. Shanghai VW’s total 2015 sales of 1.8 million passenger automobiles was 4.7% greater than the 1.72 million automobiles sold the previous year. December was an exceptionally strong month for the JV, which sold 164,199 passenger automobile, representing year-on-year growth of 39.8%.
Runner-up Shanghai GM sold 1.72 million passenger automobiles in 2015. Shanghai GM was the largest seller of passenger automobiles in December. Its monthly sales volume of 212,600 units was nearly 50,000 units over its nearest competitor.
FAW-VW, which was the biggest seller of passenger automobiles of 2014, fell down to third place this year with total sales of 1.65 million automobiles, down 7.3% year-on-year. FAW-VW was the only top three manufacturer whose year-on-year sales decreased. FAW-VW’s monthly sales performance in December was lacking when it was knocked out of the top three by SAIC-GM-Wuling.
SAIC-GM-Wuling, Beijing Hyundai and Dongfeng Nissan also managed to sell over one million passenger automobiles in 2015, with respective sales of 1.18 million units, 1.06 million units and 1 million units, respectively. The most noteworthy among them was SAIC-GM-Wuling whose sales grew a full 26.7% year-on-year. SAIC-GM-Wuling even went as far as ranking in the top three for passenger automobile sales in December, when it sold a total of 163,202 units.
The 2015 sales volumes of Changan Ford and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën totaled 869,000 units and 705,000 units, respectively. The former represented positive year-on-year growth of 7.8%.
Changan Automobile and Great Wall Motor’s passenger automobile sales were especially strong, with their 2015 sales volumes totaling 938,000 units and 753,000 sales, respectively. Changan’s sales grew 32.1%, far above other enterprises in the top ten. Successful own brand models have continued to contribute to Changan’s strong performance this year. For its part, Great Wall achieved strong year-on-year sales growth of 23.0%. Great Wall’s performance has not been unnoticed by its competitors, as its flagship model the Haval H6 led the SUV sales charts in 2015 by a comfortable margin.
