According to the data released by China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) and corresponding automakers, the deliveries of PVs (excluding minivan) in China last month reached around 2,224,000 units, up 7.1% year on year. The SAIC-VW, FAW-VW and SAIC-GM, the top three automakers by sales, all delivered over 180,000 units in January this year.
A large number of China’s self-owned brands obtained great performance in both sales volume and growth. Last month, Geely Auto, the fourth on the sales list, sold 154,035 vehicles which outnumbered Dongfeng Nissan who only delivered 115,113 units within same period.
Besides, Changan Auto moved up three places in the sales ranking to the seventh compared with the previous month, with 111,224 units delivered in January. SAIC Motor passenger vehicle Co. (SAIC Motor PV) and GAC Trumpchi handed over 69,981 units and 60,154 units respectively, both rising 7 places on the sales list. Nevertheless, Chery Auto experienced a downturn in sales with its ranking slumping 7 places to twentieth from the previous month.
It is a surprise that Beijing Benz and Brilliance-BMW entered the top 20 list by sales in January this year. Luxury vehicle brands Benz and BMW have outperformed Ford which may indicate that China is in a sound economic condition.
As to the year-on-year sales growth, self-owned brands seized the top four places. Last month, the sales of SAIC Motor PV, Geely Auto, BYD Auto and GAC Trumpchi jumped 80.2%, 69%, 47% and 30% year on year respectively. Especially, the sales growth of Geely Auto was achieved based on 91,136 units of the same period in 2017.
With respect to joint-venture automakers, FAW-VW and FAW-Toyota both enjoyed 23% of year-on-year sales growth in January. It is noteworthy that the two joint ventures both focus on sedans. Their upward sales probably signify the resurrection of sedan segment in China.
An important fact which should be taken into account is that the Spring Festival last year was in January which led to a less thriving sales performance in China’s auto market.
Among the 20 automakers on the list, Beijing Hyundai and Changan-Ford were the only two who suffered year-on-year sales decrease of over 20%.
