The year 2015 is nearing an end as the third quarter finishes up. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 1.38 million new passenger automobiles were sold over the first three quarters of the year, representing year-on-year growth of 5.2%.
While a few domestic passenger automobile enterprises are on track to complete their sales targets for the year, they still make up the minority of all automotive manufacturing enterprises operating in the country. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), only four out of 17 automotive enterprises have managed to complete at least 75% of their annual sales targets by the end of the third quarter in September. These four manufacturers are Changan Automobile, Geely, JAC Motor and Chery.
The two German-affiliated joint ventures, Shanghai VW and FAW-VW, have only managed to complete over 60% of their sales targets by the end of September.
Shanghai VW’s new automobile sales totaled 1.31 million units, representing negative year-on-year growth of 2.9%. The joint venture’s key models, the Lavida, Santana and Passat, have all seen their sales fall this year. Fortunately, some of the JV’s other models, such as the Tiguan, Polo and Škoda Octavia, have managed to achieve positive year-on-year sales growth, which has helped Shanghai VW recoup some of its lost sales.
Meanwhile, FAW-VW’s sales fell 12.4%. That decline is the largest that the joint venture has suffered in the last decade. So far the JV has managed to achieve only 63.9% of its 1.85 million sales target for the year. Aside from the Audi Q5 and Audi A3, sales of FAW-VW’s other big sellers have all fallen this year.
Shanghai GM’s sales of 1.17 million automobiles over the first three quarters of the year represents only 61.6% of the JV’s designated target of 1.9 million units sold by the end of the year. Likewise, Changan Ford has only managed to complete 60% of its 1 million sales target at the end of the third quarter, despite the commendable performance of the Ford Escort and Mondeo. Whether these two JVs will be able to achieve their sales targets by the end of the year remains to be seen.
Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën’s passenger automobile sales for the first three quarters of the year totaled 494,500 units, down 4.6% year-on-year and representing only 61.8% of its 800,000 sales target for the year of 2015.
Both Korean-affiliated JVs, Beijing Hyundai and Dongfeng Yueda Kia, have performed far below expectations this year. Beijing Hyundai has sold 724,600 vehicles so far, representing 62.5% of its annual sales target of 1.16 million vehicles. By comparison, Dongfeng Yueda Kia has only managed to complete just over half of its sales target of 750,000 vehicles.
The situation among Japanese-affiliated JVs varies a great deal. On the one hand, Guangqi Honda has been able to complete 73% of its sales target with completed sales of 379,700 units, putting it on track for completing its sales target for the year. However, on the other end of the spectrum is Dongfeng Honda, which has only managed to complete just over 50% of its sales target with three quarters of the year already having passed on by. In between the two extremes is FAW Toyota, which has sold 414,000 vehicles so far, up 2.9% year-on-year and representing just over two-thirds of its total sales goal for the year.
What has been surprising about the Chinese passenger automobile market this year is how domestic own brands have managed to make somewhat of a resurgence. In fact, the only automotive enterprises which managed to complete at least 75% of their sales targets by the end of the third quarter were own brand manufacturers.
Changan Automobile led the charts with total sales of 707,700 sales. That figure not only represents excellent year-on-year growth of 35.3%, it also accounts for well over 90% of its sales target for the year. Changan is easily on its way to complete its 2015 sales target.
Fellow own brand manufacturers Geely, JAC and Chery have managed to complete 80.8%, 78.9% and 77.3% of its sales targets, respectively.
Just slightly under the 75% mark was SAIC-GM-Wuling, which managed to complete 71.5% of its sales target. With the help of strong sellers like the Baojun 560, SAIC-GM-Wuling should be able to go on to complete its sales goal for the year.
Great Wall has sold 586,700 vehicles over the first three quarters of the year, representing only 69% of its total sales goal of 850,000 units.
