Independent brands now account for half of PV sales as auto market continues strong growth

By: Lei Xing   2010-03-14

Sales of independent branded models accounted for more than half of the passenger vehicle sales in February

BEIJING - Despite the short month and the Chinese New Year holiday, China's auto sales in February, thanks in part to strong performance of independent brands and continued government incentives, still grew 46.25 percent year-on-year to more than 1.21 million units, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on March 9.

Although down significantly from January, sales in February still topped one million units, making it the 12th consecutive month since March 2009 that sales have surpassed the mark. That helped bring sales in the January-February period to more than 2.87 million units, up 84 percent from last year. Of significance is that independent branded PVs accounted for half (477,400 units) of the PVs sold (942,900 units) in February.

For the first two months, sales of independent branded PVs were 1.125 million, or just about half of the 2.259 million PVs sold during the period. Sales of passenger vehicles of 1.6L and below, which enjoy the ongoing 7.5 percent preferential sales tax rate, totaled 1.63 million units, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the PV market. Of the different types of PVs sold in the first two months, MPVs and SUVs were the big growth gainers, with sales jumping 140 and 170 percent respectively to 64,300 and 164,700 units.

The top selling models in the passenger car, MPV and SUV markets for the first two months all belonged to independent brands. In the passenger car market, BYD's F3 continued its surprising run as the top selling model, beating out the "evergreen" Jetta by nearly 20,000 units. JAC's Refine and Great Wall Motor's Hover series were the top selling models in the MPV and SUV category, respectively.

Chang'an Auto, with its acquisition of Hafei Auto and Changhe Auto last year, has leaped into the No. 2 spot in the list of top 10 automakers by sales in the first two months, after SAIC and before FAW and Dongfeng. Beijing Auto, Guangzhou Auto, Chery, BYD, JAC and Brilliance China round out the top 10, which sold a combined 2.491 million vehicles during the period, accounting for 87 percent of the market total.

As for commercial vehicles (CV), sales in the first two months reached 616,800 units, up 77.87 percent from the same period last year. Beiqi-Foton remained as the leading CV maker in terms of sale as the top ten CV producers sold 430,100 CVs in the first two months, accounting for 70 percent of the CV market during the period.

At the current pace, auto sales are well on its way to surpassing 16 million units in 2010.