China March 2011: FAW Xiali N-Series grabs the pole position Discover the Top 150 best selling models

FAW Xiali N5

* See the Top 150 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *

The Chinese car market continues to take a breather after the extravagant growth of 2010, up 5% in March at 1,828,500 vehicles and 8% over the first quarter at 4,983,800. Passenger vehicle sales are up 6% in March at 1,347,600 units.

For the first time since the launch of the N5 last year, the FAW Xiali N-Series takes the lead at 24,060 sales, and by the same token climbs to #1 year-to-date at 64,250 units. The VW Lavida drops to #2 at 22,265 sales and #3 in 2011 at 62,605 sales, and the veteran VW Jetta is #3 at 21,419 but #2 in 2011 at 63,033.

Honda CR-V

The Buick Excelle is solid in 4th place at 19,242 units, above the Ford Focus in very good shape at #5 with 18,247 sales. The BYD F3 continues to slide down, #10 this month and #5 year-to-date. The best selling SUV is the Honda CR-V, up 13 spots on February at #11 with 15,156 sales.

The Nissan Sunny continues its progression and ranks 13th with 13,865 units changing hands, the ChangAn Benben Mini is holding very well at #21 and the Mazda6 gains 48 spots at #24 with 12,104 sales.

Full Top 150 Ranking Table below.

China: 1986-2009 Historical Data now available

2004 VW Jetta

Chinese historical data up to 1986 is now available on Best Selling Cars. This 25 year period in China is definitely one of the most interesting in the history of automobile, sales in the country going from virtually nothing to 18 million cars nowadays!

1986 marks the local production launch of the VW Santana, the very car that would set the ground work for China’s motorisation, with over 3 million units produced in 25 years. Witness the Santana pass the relay to the VW Jetta in the mid-nineties, the Jetta leading for over a decade and surviving to this day with a second facelift in 2010 and 2 million units produced.

1986 VW Santana

Discover the intense fight between the Jetta, Buick Excelle, Hyundai Elantra and Tianjin Xiali in the mid-noughties, leading to the crowning of the BYD F3 in 2009.

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 10 new posts.

China January 2011: BYD F3 on top, Nissan Sunny launches Discover the Top 150 best selling models

Nissan Sunny

This month is the biggest month ever for Chinese car sales: 1.894 million vehicles changed hands including 1.529 million passenger cars, up 14% on an already record-breaking January ’10. This is also possibly the biggest single month ever in any country in the world. 47 models sold more than 10,000 units, the highest figure ever reached by any country on the planet.

Behind the BYD F3, #1 again with 29,731 registrations, 4 models beat their volume record: the FAW Xiali N3/N5 is at 29,267 sales, the Buick Excelle is at 28,149 units in #3, the Chevrolet Cruze moves 24,225 units at #5 and the VW Bora sells 23,949 at #6.

#3 in December, the Great Wall Tengyi C30 is strong again this month, ranking 11th with 18,283 sales. The Buick Excelle XT/GT and Kia Forte Furuidi both break into the Top 20, respectively at #16 with 16,343 sales and #19 with 13,947 sales. The new Nissan Sunny is above 10,000 units for its very first month of sales at #38 with 10,811 registrations.

Full January Top 150 and LCV Top 5 Ranking Tables below.

China December 2010: Great Wall Tengyi #3, BYD F3 #1 in 2010 Now with Top 200 best selling models in 2010

BYD F3

*Thanks to DC at www.autoweek.nl for the Full Year 2010 Top 200! See ‘Read more’ below*

This month, 3 Chinese models land in the Top 6, a feat rare enough to be noticed. The BYD F3, after months spent outside the podium, comes back to #1 to cap off a fantastic year: it is the best selling car in China in 2010 with 263,947 sales. It was #1 in January, February, March, May and December.

Known for its SUVs and pick-ups, Great Wall establishes itself as a generalist car manufacturer with the Tengyi C30 sedan which enters the very short list of Chinese cars having featured on the podium in their own country. Launched in June, it is #3 this month with a very impressive 24,723 sales. Lastly, the FAW Xiali N3/N5 continues its good run at #6 both in December and in 2010.

The VW Lavida stays above 25k monthly sales and finishes the year in 2nd place with 251,615 units. It was #1 in June, October & November. The Hyundai Elantra Yuedong is #3 (233,344 sales), followed by the VW Jetta (224,523 sales, #1 in April, July & August) and Buick Excelle (222,494, #1 in September).

Full Year 2010 Top 200, Top 10 in pictures & December 2010 Top 100: click on ‘Read more’ below.

Great Wall Tengyi C30

Laos 2010: Hilux in the lead, Chinese models on the up

Observation in person during my stay in Laos 5 years ago and through YouTube videos of the streets of Vientiane indicate the Toyota Hilux dominates the car sales in Laos, with even more authority than in neighbouring Thailand where it is built. The Isuzu D-Max is possibly #2.

As far as passenger vehicles are concerned, Korean models seem to be all the rage with the Kia Cerato Forte, Kia Picanto, Hyundai Elantra, Getz & i30 very common. More recent observation by my dear Mum and Dad during their stay in Luang Prabang in January 2011 seem to indicate that Chinese models are starting to be quite successful in the country.

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the Full Photo Report.

Kia Cerato Forte in Luang Prabang, Laos January 2011. Picture taken by my dear Mum and Dad.

Chery Riich M1 in Luang Prabang, Laos January 2011. Picture taken by my dear Mum and Dad.

World 2010: Toyota Hilux #1 in 28 countries

Best Selling Cars now covers 154 countries around the world, so we can rank models by the number of times they appear #1 in any given country (more on the methodology below). This is exclusive to Best Selling Cars, you won’t find it anywhere else! Toyota places 4 models in the Top 5, showing how established the brand is all over the world.

The Toyota Hilux is the model that appears most often in #1: in 28 countries, including 21 in Africa. The Toyota Corolla follows: #1 in 18 countries, and the only one across the 5 continents: Europe (1 country), Asia (6), Africa (9), America (1) and Oceania (1).

Then come the Toyota Camry, VW Golf (both 8 countries) and Toyota Yaris/Vios (7). For the list of all 57 models that appear #1 and in which countries they do so, see below.

China November 2010: Cruze #3 with best-ever 23,843 sales

Very strong sales figures this month in China, with each of the Top 3 cars delivering yearly bests. The VW Lavida is #1 for the second month in a row at 25,072 sales and 227,087 year-to-date (#2). The FAW Xiali N3/N5 continues its impressive progression and gains one more spot to finish #2 with 24,253 sales (#6 YTD).

The Chevrolet Cruze is this month’s best performer, for the first time in the Chinese Top 3 with best-ever 23,843 sales – first month above 20,000 units in China. The Cruze is 7th year-to-date with 171,717 registrations.

The BYD F3 seems to have stabilised around the 6th place, a far cry from its early 2010 performance. It however remains #1 YTD (237,354 sales) and should keep the Lavida at bay for the year-end results. Further down the ranking, the VW Bora, Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus, Chevrolet Sail, Honda City and VW Polo all deliver their best 2010 month.

Full Top 100 Ranking Table below.

Madagascar Q2 2010: JAC Tojoy among best-sellers

JAC Tojoy

Still very limited, the new car market in Madagascar is dominated by Asian brands: Toyota is in the lead in Q2 2010 at 11.8% (down from 17.9% in Q4 ’09), ahead of Nissan and Mitsubishi. However the big novelty in Q2 is the thunderous arrival of two Chinese brands in the Top 10: JAC in 5th at 7.3% and BYD in 8th at 5.1%.

Given JAC only sells one model in Madagascar, this means the JAC Tojoy is already within the best-selling models in the country, along with the Mitsubishi L200 (probably the best-seller), Nissan Hardbody, Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux. Remember we’re talking 30 to 50 units sold in the space of 3 months to be best-seller in Madagascar.

More commentaries, Top 10 brands ranking table, street scenes and videos here: 

North Korea 2010: Pyeonghwa Samchunri leads the ranking

Advertising billboard for the Pyeonghwa Samchunri. Picture by Eric Lafforgue. All Rights reserved.

The North Korean car market is very limited but seems to have enjoyed a mini-boom over the last year as more cars can be seen in the formerly deserted streets of Pyongyang. Pyeonghwa Motors has the exclusive rights to car production, purchase and used car sales in North Korea and is the only company in the country to advertise. More about Pyeonghwa Motors here.

The Pyeonghwa Samchunri is a rebadged Jinbei Haise van (itself based on the 1989 Toyota Hiace), assembled under license from Brilliance China Auto. It should be by far the best-selling vehicle in North Korea, followed by the Pyeonghwa Hwiparam II, a rebadged Brilliance BS4, and the Pyeonghwa Premio CUV, a rebadged Huanghai Shuguan (with a Hyundai Santa Fe front and an old gen Kia Sorento back!).

As far as imports are concerned, the best-sellers seem to logically be two popular models from neighbouring countries: the BYD F3, #1 in China, and the Lada Priora, #2 in Russia.

More pictures, street scenes and videos below.

Pyeonghwa Hwiparam II

China October 2010: VW Lavida #1

VW Lavida

The Chinese market grows by 25% in October, and 35% year-to-date: the 10 months 2010 figure (14.67 million) is already well superior to the full year 2009 number (13.64 million)!

The models ranking is very volatile and the VW Lavida, built exclusively for China on a Golf IV platform, takes the lead for the second time this year with 23,180 sales. It is #2 year-to-date with 202,015 registrations. The Buick Excelle drops one spot to #2 and the FAW Xiali N Series comes back into the Top 3 for the first time since January, mainly thanks to the success of the new N5 (pictured below).

The BYD F3, still #1 year-to-date (217,103 sales), has its best month since May at 18,715 sales (#6), whereas the Chevrolet Sail (a 2010 restyled Chinese version of the Opel Corsa) storms into the Top 10 in 9th with 16,396 sales, its best figure ever, by far.

FAW Xiali N5

Chevrolet Sail

More commentaries and Full Top 75 ranking table below.