China's auto market maintained an upward impetus in August with its new vehicle sales growing 11.6% year to year to roughly 2.186 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Benefitting from the overall rising market climate, most automobile groups Gasgoo listed here achieved sales growth compared to the same period a year ago. It is noteworthy that many of them saw their Aug. sales climb at a double-digit rate.
In respect to year-to-date sales, Changan Auto became the only one that obtained increase.
SAIC Motor records 2020's first-time single-month sales of over 500,000 units in Aug.
SAIC Motor saw its August new vehicles sales climbed 3.57% year on year to 504,236 units, topping 500,000 units for the first time so far this year.
With 3,010,910 vehicles sold in total, SAIC Motor posted 22.08% decrease in the year-to-date sales, 3.69 percentage points fewer than the decline in Jan.-Jul. sales. The contracted drop should owe to the consecutive growth from June to August.
Neither SAIC Volkswagen (SAIC VW) nor SAIC-GM achieved growth in August, but both of them recorded smaller decrease in year-to-date sales. With 856,385 and 798,235 vehicles sold in Jan.-Aug. period, SAIC VW and SAIC-GM logged 29.53% and 26.05% year-on-year decline respectively, versus the 33.15% and 29.26% plunge they recorded for the first seven months.
SAIC Motor PV's August sales edged down 1.21% over a year earlier to 50,426 units. The decrease in its year-to-date sales stood at 17.32%, 2.26 percentage points fewer than its Jan.-Jul. drop.
An analyst at Gasgoo Auto Research Institute said the slower downturn in SAIC Motor PV's sales should be thanks to the blooming sale of the Roewe RX5 PLUS and the third-generation MG6. As of August, the sales of the Roewe RX5 PLUS exceeded 36,000 units since it went on sale on June 10, according to a posting on Roewe's WeChat account. The third-generation MG 6 is also growing into a major contributor to MG's sales growth.
FAW Group says August vehicle sales jump 14% from a year ago
FAW Group said its vehicle production and sales volumes reached 303,079 units and 314,454 units in August, rising 8.8% and 14% respectively over a year earlier.
Its self-owned premium car brand Hongqi sold 21,020 vehicles last month, a remarkable year-on-year growth of 109.8%.
As of August, Hongqi has gained year-over-year sales growth for the eighth month in a row so far this year.
For the first eight months, Hongqi's cumulative sales surpassed 108,500 units, surging 108% over the year-ago period and completing 54.25% of its 200,000-unit annual sales target. In spite of the incessant increase, the brand still needs to double its efforts to fulfill the goal over the remaining four months.
The monthly sales of the HS5, Hongqi's first luxury medium-sized SUV model, topped 10,000 units for the first time in August.
FAW-Volkswagen still outsold other subsidiaries. Last month, it sold 193,106 vehicles, posting a 7.8% increase compared to the same period a year ago.
The Sino-German joint venture put the Tayron X coupe SUV onto the market in July, which drew a lot of public attention with its stylish look.
GAC Group scores 11.64% year-on-year increase in Aug. sales
GAC Group announced that its Aug. vehicle sales volume reached 180,609 units, rising 11.64% over the previous year, while edging down 1.81% over the previous month.
Both PV and CV business units achieved double-digit sales growth in August. With 180,308 units sold, the PV arm boasted an 11.59% robust year-on-year growth thanks to the 19.08% and 33.48% jump in MPV and SUV sales. However, sedan sales still fell 5.35% to 83,100 units, which somewhat slowed the overall PV sales growth down.
CV sales in August shot up 55.96% from a year ago to 301 units, 300 units of which were trucks.
Among subsidiaries, GAC Honda recorded the highest sales volume. The joint venture's Aug. sales vigorously climbed 26.18% to 72,587 units, making its year-to-date sales aggregate 462,779 units (-9.55% YoY).
Within GAC Group, GAC Toyota was the only one that posted growth in both Aug. and Jan.-Aug. sales. The automaker reported that 70,247 consumers took delivery of its vehicles last month. The combined deliveries of three key SUV models—the Highlander, the Wildlander and the C-HR—amounted to 20,489 units, surging 57% over the year-ago period.
GAC Motor sustained a rising momentum with its Aug. sales climbing 8.64% year over year to 32,518 units. According to GAC Group, the sales of the Trumpchi GS4 series were 11,171 units.
Changan Auto gains fifth-month-in-a-row double-digit sales growth
Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (called “Changan” for short) scored a 35.63% year-on-year surge last month by selling 169,415 vehicles. As of August, the Chongqing-based automaker had posted double-digit sales growth for the fifth month in a row.
Last month, the sales of Changan's self-owned brand leapt 39.5% over a year ago to 128,416 units, the company said via its WeChat account.
As for the Aug. sales of key models, the sales of the Changan CS75 series amounted to 22,456 units, exceeding 20,000 units for five consecutive months.
The roll-out of new products significantly contributed to the upturn in Changan-branded sales. The sales of the UNI-T, the first model in Changan's “gravity” sequence, reached 10,186 units. Notably, the sales of the Blue Whale editions of the Changan CS55 PLUS and the Ruicheng CC totaled 10,056 units after they going on sale on August 17.
Joint ventures also gained blooming sales growth last month. Of them, Changan Ford boasted a 36.98% year-on-year sales hike with 20,229 vehicles sold.
A senior analyst at Gasgoo Auto Research Institute said Changan Ford's sales growth in August was largely associated with its product strategy adjustment. To cater to the market and consumers' demands, Ford is speeding up the launch of new products in China with SUV models as its centerpiece, especially the Ford Escape has served a main driver of the joint venture's sales increase.
Geely Auto's Aug. sales grow 12% year on year
Geely Auto and its subsidiaries sold a total of 113,443 new vehicles in August, an increase of roughly 12% from the year ago and up around 8% from July 2020.
Among the vehicles sold last month, 6,609 units were new energy and electrified vehicles (NEEVs), including the Geometry As, the Emgrand EVs and the Engrand GSes, a month-on-month growth of 3%.
In August, Geely Auto sold 38,475 sedans and 71,565 SUVs. To be specific, the sales of the Emgrand sedan series amounted to 20,129 units, and the combined sales of the Boyue and the Boyue PRO SUVs reached 20,685 units. Since hitting the market in late June, the cumulative sales of Haoyue SUV totaled 11,904 units, of which the Aug. volume was doubled over the previous month to 6,505 units.
During the same month, the sales volume of Lynk & Co-branded vehicles was 17,098 units, soaring around 56% year on year and hitting the brand's record high level in single-month sales.
For the first eight months, the group sold 749,107 vehicles, posting a decrease of roughly 11% from the year-ago period and fulfilling 57% of its revised annual sales target of 1.32 million units.
Great Wall Motor boasts 27.41% year-on-year surge in Aug. sales
Great Wall Motor (GWM)'s new vehicle sales reached 89,442 units in August, surging 27.41% year on year and jumping 14.17% month on month.
In the Jan.-Aug. period, the automaker sold 562,878 vehicles in total, posting a year-on-year decrease of 9.81%.
Four major brands all achieved year-on-year increase in August. Haval's sales vigorously rose 11.72% from a year earlier to 56,128 units. The Haval H6 was still honored the best-selling SUV model of the country with its Aug. sales growing 9.7% from the year-ago period to 27,528 units.
WEY, the SUV brand embodying GWM's ambition to move upscale, witnessed its sales climb 7.14% over a year earlier to 7,504 units. The sales of the VV6 edged up 3.3% year on year to 4,453 units, while the VV7 sales volume represented a 37.2% hike compared to the prior-year period.
As of August, GWM's pickup sales had exceeded 20,000 units for four consecutive months. Notably, the sales of the P series pickups amounted to 11,100 units, exceeding 10,000 units for the fourth month in a row as well.
With 4,794 vehicles sold in August, the BEV-focused ORA brand recorded a remarkable sales hike of 291.35%. The sales of the ORA Heimao (meaning “black cat” in English), previously known as the ORA R1, skyrocketed 238.3% year over year to 3,748 units.
Chery Automobile scores 21.1% YoY leap in August sales
Chery Holding said its vehicle sales reached 64,403 units in August, of which 40,207 units were from Chery Automobile, a 21.1% surge compared to a year ago.
With 27,632 units sold last month, Chery Automobile recorded a 20% year-on-year growth in domestic fuel-burning vehicle sales.
The manifest upward movement should be significantly credited to the frequent launch of new products. Chery Automobile has rolled out such new models as the all-new Tiggo 5x, the all-new Tiggo 7, the all-new Tiggo 8 upgrade version, and the Arrizo 5 Sports edition so far this year. In August, the automaker put several new models onto the market including the all-new Tiggo 8 featuring 2-2-2 seat layout, the Tiggo 3x PLUS whose entire model series coming standard with ESP, and the all-new Tiggo 5x High Performance equipped with 1.5-liter turbocharged engine and 9-speed CVT.
Chery Jaguar Land Rover and Cowin Auto sold 6,024 and 3,523 vehicles in August, achieving 28.7% and 88.9% robust year-on-year growth.
Jetour, a PV brand owned by Chery Commercial Vehicle, has by far sold over 230,000 vehicles since it was launched in August 2018. The brand successively put such heavyweight models as the Jetour X70M, the X70 Coupe and the Jetour X95 Pro onto the market during the first eight months. Besides, the all-new Jetour X90 SUV is about to go on sale in the third quarter.
JAC Motors chalks up 57.78% year-on-year surge in Aug. sales
JAC Motors' auto sales zoomed up 57.78% from a year ago to 41,569 units in August thanks to the remarkable growth achieved by both PV and CV units. This was also the fifth monthly growth in a row growth the company gained so far this year.
Last month, the Hefei-based automaker sold 28,540 CVs, which surged 66.15% from the year-ago period. Of those, the sales of light-duty trucks soared 67.8% over the previous year to 21,300 units. Seizing the policy and market opportunities, JAC Motors saw its heavy-duty truck sales skyrocket 143.56% to 4,954 units in August.
PV sales posted a vigorous rebound as well thanks to the faster recovery in macro-economic climate, the policy-driven automobile consumption and other factors, which made consumers growingly willing to buy vehicles. In August, JAC Motors sold 13,029 PVs, a year-on-year growth of 42.08%. The sales of SUV, MPV and cars all showed strong upward movement. The model matrix consisting of the Jiayue X7, X4 and A5 further enhances JAC Motors' competition edge in domestic PV market, the automaker said.
By virtue of the consecutive growth gained from April to August, JAC Motor had almost kept abreast with the prior-year level in terms of Jan.-Aug. sales.
BYD logs 2.4% YoY increase in Aug. sales, but NEV sales still fall 8.59%
In August, BYD sustained an upward momentum with its vehicle sales climbing 2.4% year on year to 36,872 units. Compared to the previous month, the automaker also gained an apparent growth of 17.49%.
The year-on-year increase should owe much to the sales growth achieved by the oil-fueled vehicle unit. In August, the sales volume of fuel-burning vehicles rose 11.45% from a year earlier to 21,499 units, thanks to the 92.71% and 6.75% increase in sedan and SUV sales. However, MPV sales still fell 17.57% from a year earlier.
BYD saw its new energy vehicle (NEV) sales dropped 8.59% year over year to 15,283 units, but edge up 1.21% compared to July 2020. Of those, PV sales reached 14,009 units (-12.99% YoY), including 9,414 BEVs (-14.46% YoY) and 4,595 PHEVs (-9.81%).
As for the specific sales of key models, the August sales volume of the BYD Han amounted to 4,000 units, indicating that the intelligent new energy flagship model was well received by consumers thanks to its high cost effectiveness.
In August, the sales volumes of the Tang and the Song series stood at 3,288 units and 17,200 units respectively. BYD said via its WeChat account, the company sold 11,457 Song Pro SUVs and 3,676 Song Max MPVs during that month. Moreover, the sales volumes of the Qin and Yuan families amounted to 6,950 units and 1,015 units.
