The SUV segment remains the largest subsection of the Chinese passenger automobile market, accounting for over three-tenths of all automobile sold in the country last year. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 6.27 million SUVs were sold in China in 2015, representing year-on-year growth of 52.7%, far above the overall market average of 9.6%. SUVs comprised 31.1% of all passenger automobiles sold over the course of the year, up 8.8 percentage points from the previous year. SUV sales growth rates begun reaching the 60% mark in September, reaching a high of 803,594 units sold in December.
Domestic own brand automobile manufacturers continued to lead the SUV segment in 2015. Own brand SUV sales for the year totaled 3.37 million units, representing year-on-year growth of 82.9% and accounting for 53.8% of all SUVs sold in the country. On the heels of the own brands were Japanese SUV sales, which totaled 1.01 million units, up 29.1% year-on-year. American SUV sales totaled 584,858 units, growing 46.6% year-on-year, the highest year-on-year growth rate in the market.
All SUV segments have experienced positive year-on-year growth in 2015, with smaller SUVs becoming increasingly popular. Compact SUV sales were the most popular SUV type, with total sales of 3.52 million units, accounting for 56.1% of all SUVs sold in China. Small SUV sales over doubled, totaling 1.76 million units and accounting for 28.1% of SUV sales. Midsize and mid-large SUV sales totaled 941,567 units and 50,174 units, respectively.
Great Wall Motor sold the most SUVs in China in 2015, achieving total SUV sales of 699,052 units. The Hebei-based manufacturer was followed by Changan Automobile, Shanghai GM, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, Shanghai VW, Dongfeng Honda, Changan Ford, JAC Motor and Chery Automobile. With the exception of Chery, all of the manufacturers on the list saw their SUV sales achieve positive year-on-year growth in 2015. Changan and JAC went as far as posting year-on-year growth rates in the triple digits.
Great Wall’s Haval H6 was the best-selling SUV model of 2015, with total sales of 373,229 units. The H6 was followed by the VW Tiguan, JAC Refine S3, Changan CS75, Changan CS35, Great Wall Haval H2, Nissan X-Trail, BAIC S3, Buick Envision and Honda CR-V. Aside from the CR-V, all of the models on the list achieved positive year-on-year sales growth in 2015, with over half of those posting sales growth rates in the triple digits. Six of the models came from own brand manufacturers.
