German automakers have reached a 24 percent share of the Chinese auto market in July, gaining 3 percent compared to the end of 2013. The world’s largest car market is a haven for German carmakers, which together sell almost as many cars as all 25 Chinese brands combined.
According to wholesale data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) cited by Reuters, German carmakers (through collaborations) are just 6 percentage points shy of equaling the total number of cars sold by China’s 25 carmakers, which include companies like Geely Automobile Holdings, Great Wall Motor, BYD and others.
The VW Group has a big contribution to this growth, thanks to its lead in China’s compact sedan market, with its models ranking first, second, third and fourth as China’s best-selling compacts. VW sold 667,688 New Lavida, New Santana and Sagitar compact sedans in China in the first seven months of the year, according to LMC Automotive. The top three local models (Geely Emgrand EC7, Great Wall’s Voleex C30 and BYD’s Surui) only accounted for 147,651 sales during the same period.
VW’s growth is particularly important as compact cars make up about 60 percent of China’s passenger vehicle sales. The segment rose 15 percent in January-July while the overall market increased 8.1 percent.
In contrast with German carmakers, the market shares of Japanese, U.S. and Korean brands were flat in the first seven months of the year.
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