Market Trend and Outlook

The Chinese economy is on track to meet the government’s 2023 growth target, reflecting a strong post-COVID recovery. Real GDP is projected to grow by 5.4 percent in 2023 and slow to 4.6 percent in 2024 amid continued weakness in the property sector and subdued external demand.

China’s credit-fueled growth in recent years was accompanied by widening imbalances and rising vulnerabilities. Excessively high household savings were used to finance infrastructure and residential investment with diminishing returns, resulting in elevated debt levels.

The Chinese auto market has shown signs of slower growth in 2023, with YTD figures at 17.80 million down 2.3% from the previous year. In October 2023 sales grew 9.7% after falling for 4 consecutive months, reporting 2.08 million new sales.

Looking at cumulative data up to October 2023, brand-wise the Chinese EV manufacturer BYD becomes the leader for the first time with 2.04 million sales (+52.6%), followed by the Volkswagen -down 1 spot- in 2nd at 1.77 million (-6.3%).

Toyota falls 1 spot into 3rd with 1.42 million sales  (-6.8%), followed by Honda with 959,669 registrations (-18.2%), Changan with 932,498 sales (+7.4%) and Geely with 794,676 units sold (+8.2%).

In 7th place ranks BMW with 651,207 sales (+4.4%), followed by Mercedes -up 1 spot– with 614,016 (+0.2%), Audi -up 4 spots- with 575,192 (+8.7%) and Wuling closing the Top 10 with 544,021 sales (-9.2%).

Best selling models in China are the BYD Qin PLUS in 1st -up 6 spots- with 355,017 sales (+36.7%) and the Tesla Model Y in 2nd -up 3 spots- with 346,462 cumulative units sold (+20.9%).

Medium-Term Market Trend

The Chinese vehicle market is the largest in the world and in the last decade it has maintained an overall positive trend. Starting from 14.0 million sales in 2011 the Chinese light vehicle market grew 7 years in a row reaching an all time high in 2017 with 25.6 million registrations. The following 2 years were both negative taking the market sales to 22.5 million in 2019.

The arrival of the pandemic in 2020 blocked the world economy making demand for cars fall world wide. The Chinese market stood its ground dropping only 5.9%, a smaller fall compared to 2019 (-7.6%), taking sales down to 21.2 million.

Post-covid the Chinese vehicle market recovered immediately with sales rising 4.0% in 2021 and 1.0% in 2022. Despite the overall trend in 2022 being positive, the last 3 months all reported losses, a negative trend that will probably continue into 2023.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Market Trend and Outlook

Chinese industry is one of the most affected by disruption created in the country by the “Zero Covid” strategy, which forced millions people and workers into shutdown in all the main metropolitan regions this year, with production lost both in components and vehicles amd with showrooms frequently waste of products and clients.

However, the strong demand focused on new electric vehicles, sustained the domestic market, which was more resilient than many other industries.

The Chinese auto market in 2022 shows resilience despite the strong covid regulations,  totaling 22.15 million sales, a 1.0% increase compared to the prior year. In December new registrations fell for the 3rd month in a row, reporting 2.24 million (-8.2%)

Looking at cumulative data from 2022, brand-wise the leader is still Volkswagen with 2.30 million sales (+5.5%), followed by Toyota in 2nd at 1.86 million (+10.8%).

The Chinese manufacturer BYD moves up 11 spots into 3rd with 1.76 million sales  (+157.1%) and is the real winner this year.

In fourth place stands Honda at 1.39 million (-9.0%) followed by Changan at 1.10 (+13.1%) and Geely with 892,047 (-16.8%).

In 7th place ranks Chery with 871,956 (+1.5%) followed by Nissan with 821,408 (-17.9%), BMW with 755,487 (-7.6%) and Mercedes closing the Top 10 with 739,790 sales (-0.2%).

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Market Trend

The Chinese car market this year kept recovering effectively, but reported positive performance only in Q1, with the sharpest drop reported in Q3.

The market has slowed down since 2016, after having achieved 30% of global sales. The future evolution is clearly driven more by real solutions regarding the two main issues created by the last decade’s market boom: pollution, and traffic congestion.

The Chinese government has shifted its attention from total volume to engine mix and is progressively creating incentives for small and low emission vehicles while supporting investment in the AFVs, mainly electric. In this direction, in January 2017 it has been increased the duties for vehicles with engine displacements over 1.6 liters (from 5% to 7.5%). During 2017, sales have been 28.2 million, up 0.9%.

However, in 2018, new light-vehicle sales have progressively lost steam, following the deceleration of the domestic consumer demand. Indeed, The market interrupted the positive trend of recent years losing for the first time since the ’90s and closing 2018 with 27.5 million units sold (-3.7%). In 2019 the Full-year ended at 25.7 million, down 6.5% from the previous year

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic sales fell in  2020. In fact, 24,730,045 units have been sold, reporting a decline of 4.1% compared to 2019.

In 2021 the year started extremely positively for the Chinese market due to extremely low sales levels in Q1 2020, in fact, in Q1 6.03 million units have been sold, reporting a 61.7% increase in sales, while in Q2 sales remained almost flat, reporting a 1.3% decrease in sales with 6.12 million units.

In Q3 sales dropped quickly, losing 14.2% sales with 5.82 million units, and lost 5.5% in Q4 with 7.69 million sales.

Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2021 have been 25.65 million, reporting a 3.2% increase compared to 2020.

Brand-wise, this year the leader Volkswagen (-17.6%) lost 2% market share and registered the worst performance in the leaderboard, followed by Toyota (+4.5%), which gained 0.2% share. Wuling gained 1.5% share, increasing sales by 34.3%, reporting the best performance.  Honda fell in 4th place while losing 6.7%, followed by Changan which gained 10.1%.

Geely reached 6th place by losing 7.6%, followed by Nissan (-12.5%) -down 3 spots- and Buick which lost 10.5% sales. Closing the leaderboard we have BMW -up 2 spots- reporting the best performance in the leaderboard by gaining 6.7% and Mercedes -down 1 spot-, losing 3.4%.

The most sold vehicle this year has been the Nissan Sylphy (-7.8%) with 500,150 units sold, followed by the Wuling Mini Truck, which lost 1.5% registering 494,412 new sales this year. The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV (+257.6%) closes the podium and reports 426,484 new units sold.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Market Trend

The Chinese car market has been hit slightly in 2020 despite the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted sales everywhere in the world.

The market has slowed down since 2016, after having achieved 30% of global sales. The future evolution is clearly driven more by real solutions regarding the two main issues created by the last decade’s market boom: pollution, and traffic congestion.

The Chinese government has shifted its attention from total volume to engine mix and is progressively creating incentives for small and low emission vehicles while supporting investment in the AFVs, mainly electric. In this direction, in January 2017 it has been increased the duties for vehicles with engine displacements over 1.6 liters (from 5% to 7.5%). During 2017, sales have been 28.2 million, up 0.9%.

However, in 2018, new light-vehicle sales have progressively lost steam, following the deceleration of the domestic consumer demand. Indeed, The market interrupted the positive trend of recent years losing for the first time since the ’90s and closing 2018 with 27.5 million units sold (-3.7%). In 2019 the Full-year ended at 25.7 million, down 6.5% from the previous year

After starting the year negatively (-18.8%), the market quickly collapsed in February as the virus started spreading well before any other country. The sharpest drop in sales this year was in fact February when sales declined by 77.3% due to heavy restrictions. The market recovered quickly and started growing again in May (+6%).

The second half of the year has been entirely positive, in fact, every month reported positive sales, with July (+10.1%), October (+11.3%) and November (+13.5%) up in double-digits.

Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 24.730.045, reporting a decline of 4.1% compared to 2019.

Brand-wise, this year the leader Volkswagen (-16.2%) lost 1.5% market share and registered the worst performance in the leaderboard, followed by Honda (+4.7%), which gained 0.6% share. Toyota gained 0.7% share, increasing sales by 7.7%.  Nissan reached 4th place while losing 4.1%, followed by ChangAn -up 1 spot- which gained 4.4%.

Geely fell in 6th place by losing 6.8%, followed by Wuling (+7.9%) and Buick which gained 7% sales. Closing the leaderboard we have Mercedes -up 2 spots- reporting the best performance in the leaderboard by gaining 10% and Dongfeng -down 1 spot-, losing 7.4%.

The most sold vehicle this year has been the Nissan Sylphy (+15.2%) with 542.725 units sold and jumped 1 spot, followed by the Wuling Mini Truck, which gained 14.2% registering 477.569 new sales this year. The Volkswagen Lavida (-21.3%) closes the podium by falling 2 spots and reports 419.793 new units sold.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.

Contents are:

Historical Data 2010-2019

1. Global Vehicles Market Data
   1. Global light vehicles sales
   2. Global light vehicles market trend
   3. Global Industry by type
   4. Light Vehicles industry mix
   5. Global car passenger’s sales
   6. Global car passenger’s sales trend
   7. Global LCVs sales
   8. Global LCVs sales trend
   9. Global Premium segment sales
   10. Global Premium segment share on market
2. Introduction to the country
   1. Geographical position
   2. The country essence
   3. Historical heritage
   4. Key economic findings
3. Market vehicles industry data & trends
   1. Light Vehicles sales 2010-2019
   2. Light Vehicles trend 2011-2019
   3. Total Industry by Type 2010-2019
   4. Light Vehicles Industry mix 2010-2019
   5. Car passenger’s sales 2010-2019
   6. Car passenger’s sales trend 2011-2019
   7. LCVs sales 2010-2019
   8. LCVs sales trend 2011-2019
   9. Vehicles Fleet 2010-2018
   10. Vehicles Fleet trend 2011-2018
   11. Car Passenger’s Fleet 2010-2018
   12. Car Passenger’s Fleet trend 2011-2018
   13. Commercial Vehicles Fleet 2010-2018
   14. Commercial Vehicles Fleet trend 2011-2018
   15. Total Vehicles production 2011-2018
   16. Total vehicles production variation 2012-2018
   17. Car Passenger’s production 2013-2018
   18. Car Passenger’s production variation 2012-2018
   19. Commercial Vehicles production 2012-2018
   20. Commercial Vehicles production variation 2013-2018
4. Performance by brand 2018-2019
   1. All Vehicles sales & share table 2018-2019
   2. Car Passenger’s Segment sales & share table 2018-2019
   3. Commercial vehicles sales & share table 2018-2019
   4. Cars Passenger’s Top 10 Brands trend 2010-2019
   5. LCVs Top 10 Brands trend 2010-2019
   6. Top 10 Groups sales volume 2010-2019
   7. Top 10 Groups market share 2010-2019
   8. Top 10 Groups sales volume 2010-2019
   9. Top 10 Groups market share 2010-2019
   10. Top 10 Cars Manufacturers  trend 2010-2019
5.  Premium Brands performance
   1. Premium brands sales volume 2010-2019
   2. Premium segment market share 2010-2019
   3. Premium brands sales 2018-2019
   4. Premium brands share 2018-2019
   5. Top Models sales 2018-2019
   6. Top models share 2018-2019
6. Car Passenger’s segmentation
   1. Car Passenger’s segmentation – size 2019
   2. Sales distribution by segment 2019
   3. Segment A share and volumes 2010-2019
   4. Segment B share and volumes 2010-2019
   5. Segment C share and volumes 2010-2019
   6. Segment D share and volumes 2010-2019
   7. Segment E share and volumes 2010-2019
   8. Segment F share and volumes 2010-2019
7. Car Passenger’s segmentation – Body
   1. Sales distribution by segment 2019
   2. Coupe share and volumes 2010-2019
   3. Hatchback share and volumes 2010-2019
   4. MPV share and volumes 2010-2019
   5. Sedan share and volumes 2010-2019
   6. SUV share and volume 2010-2019
8. Car Passenger’s models performance
   1. Best-selling models – Cars Top 10 sales 2019
   2. Best-selling models – Cars Top 10 share 2019
   3. All models sales and share – Cars 2017-2019
9. CVs segment analysis & data
   1. CVs mix evolution 2010-2019
   2. CVs segments mix 2019
   3. Light Bus sales and trend 2010-2019
   4. Van Small sales and trend 2010-2019
   5. Van Mid sales and trend 2010-2019
   6. Van Large sales and trend 2010-2019
   7. Pick ups sales and trend 2010-2019
   8. LCV Truck sales and trend 2010-2019
   9. LCV Truck sales and trend 2010-2019
   10. Top 10 models sales and market share 2019
   11. All models sales and share – LCVs 2018-2019
10. LCVs models performance
    1. Best-selling models – Top 10 sales 2019
    2. Best-selling models – Top 10 share 2019
    3. All models sales and share 2018-2019

As option, the Research can be extended with the following contents:

Outlook 2020-2025

1. Global Mega Trends
   1. Regional Production System
   2. Global Vehicles Architecture
   3. Towards Zero Emission
   4. Safety First
   5. Integrated Mobility System
   6. Social Individual Consumer
   7. Connected Mobility
2. Global Vehicles Market Forecast 2020-2025
   1. Light vehicles salesLight vehicles sales trend
   2. Global Industry
   3. Light vehicles industry mix
   4. Car Passenger’s sales volume
   5. Car Passenger’s sales trend
   6. LCVs sales volume
   7. LCVs sales trend
   8. Premium segment sales volume
   9. Premium segment sales trend
3. Local Vehicles Market Mega Trends 2020-2025
   1. Demographics
   2. Economic Development
   3. Infrastructures
   4. Business Environment
   5. Key Factors – direct & indirect
4. Local Vehicles Market Forecast 2020-2025
   1. Light vehicle Sales Volume
   2. Light vehicle sales trend
   3. Total industry
   4. Light vehicles sales trend
   5. Car Passengers Sales Volume
   6. Car Passengers sales trend
   7. LCVs Sales Volume
   8. LCVs sales trend
   9. Premium segment sales evolution
   10. Premium segment share of market
5.  Brand Performance Forecast 2020-2025
   1. Top 10 Brands C.A.G.R. 2020-2025
   2. Top 11-20 Brands C.A.G.R. 2020-2025
   3. Top 10 Brands sales volume forecast 2020-2025
   4. Top 10 Brands market share 2025
   5.  All Brands sales and share tables 2020-2025
6. Car Passenger’s Segments Forecast 20120-2025
   1. Body size segmentation
      1. Segment A sales and trend
      2. Segment B sales and trend
      3. Segment C sales and trend
      4. Segment D sales and trend
      5. Segment E sales and trend
      6. Segment E sales and trend
   2. Body style segmentation
      1. Hatchback sales and trend
      2. MPV sales and trend
      3. Sedan sales and trend
      4. SUV sales and trend
      5. Coupè sales and trend
7. LCVs segments Forecast 2020-2025
   1. Van Light sales and trend
   2. Van Mid sales and trend
   3. Van Large sales and trend
   4. Bus light sales and trend
   5. Pick up sales and trend
   6. LCVs Truck sales and trend

AX – Sources
AX – Methodology

Economic Environment

Chinese economic growth momentum remains weak. Industrial production was subdued in October, as the trade war with the U.S eroded manufacturing activities. This trend is expected to continue in the coming months as corroborated by a new drop in exports in November.

Moreover, mounting economic uncertainty is postponing investment plans, especially among foreign firms.

Meanwhile, on 13 December, President Trump agreed to a limited trade deal with China, effectively barring a fresh round of tariffs due on 15 December. As part of the deal, U.S. officials stated that China will purchase more U.S. agricultural products, while the U.S. will remove some existing tariffs in return.

Market Trend

Chinese domestic vehicles market has reduced the growing speed since 2016, after having achieved the 30% of global sales. The future evolution is clearly driven more by real solution regarding the two main issues created by the last decade market boom, pollution and traffic congestion.

Chinese government has shifted its attention from total volume to engine mix and is progressively creating incentives to small and low emission vehicles, while supporting investment in the AFVs, mainly electric. In this direction, in January 2017 it has been increased the duties for vehicles with engines displacements over 1.6 liter (from 5% to 7.5%). During the 2017, sales have been 28.2 million, up 0.9%.

The Chinese government announced on 22 May 2018 that the customs duty for CBUs had to be reduced from 25% or 20% to 15% from 1 July 2018, and that the duty for auto parts were being cut simultaneously to 6%. This adjustment means that Passenger Vehicles (PVs) had been taxed at 15% since last July, instead of the previous 25%.

However, in the 2018, new light vehicles sales (including both domestic produced and import) have progressively lost steam, following the deceleration of the domestic consumer demand. Indeed, The market interrupted the positive trend of recent years losing for the first time since ’90s and closing the 2018 with 27.5 million units sold (-3.7%).

In 2019, according to the data released by the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the market worsened. Indeed, the Full-year ended at 25.5 million, down 7.2% from the previous year.

In the competitive arena, Volkswagen held the crown with 12.2% of market share, thanks also to the Lavida, which is currently the country’s best-selling car. With almost half of Volkswagen’s share, Honda, in second position, ended at 6.3%.

Toyota – overtaking Geely – takes the third position, improving 8.8% from the previous year. Geely – ending at 5% of market share – declined by 7.6%.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models

Economic Environment

Chinese economic growth slowed again in the fourth quarter as spillovers from both financial deleveraging earlier in the year and the trade spat between China and the United States continue to weigh on economic activity.

Although policy easing is preventing the economy from decelerating sharply and the slowdown appears to be manageable for now, risks are mounting.

Economic growth will remain lackluster this year on the back of moderating domestic growth amid trade tensions between China and the U.S. Although authorities will rely on fiscal and monetary policy support to avoid any sharp slowdown, the scale of the policy stimulus will be rather limited compared to previous initiatives.

Market Trend

Chinese domestic vehicles market has reduced the growing speed since 2016, after having achieved the 30% of global sales. The future evolution is clearly driven more by real solution regarding the two main issues created by the last decade market boom, pollution and traffic congestion.

Chinese government has shifted its attention from total volume to engine mix and is progressively creating incentives to small and low emission vehicles, while supporting investment in the AFVs, mainly electric.

In this direction, in January 2017 it has been increased the duties for vehicles with engines displacements over 1.6 liter (from 5% to 7.5%). During the 2017, according to the data released by the C.A.A.M., (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) new light vehicles sales (including both domestic produced and import) have been 28.2 million, up 0.9%.

The Chinese government announced on 22 May 2018 that the customs duty for CBUs had be reduced from 25% or 20% to 15% from 1 July 2018, and that the duty for auto parts were be cut simultaneously to 6%. This adjustment means that Passenger Vehicles (PVs) had been taxed at 15% since last July, instead of the previous 25%.

However, in the 2018 the Chinese vehicles market has progressively lost steam, following the deceleration of the domestic consumer demand. Indeed, after a positive start, the market has performed negatively during the second half of the year, ending with sales down 3.7%. The market has interrupted the positive trend of recent years losing for the first time since ’90s and closing the 2018 with 27.5 million units sold.

Competitive Arena

The 2018 market leader was Volkswagen, ending with over the double sales than the second with 3.1 million vehicles (-0.4%) and 11.7% of market share.

At the end of an amazing run Honda has taken the second place with actual figures at 1.45 million units (+2.4%).

In third place Geely with 1.37 million (+10.0%) few units ahead of Toyota with 1.37 million (+13.5%).

In fifth place Nissan with 1.23 million units (+7.7%) followed by Changan with 1.15 million (-17.0%), Wuling with 1.1 million (-1.2%), Buick with 1.06 million (-13.1%), Baojun with 879.077 (-13.9%) and in 10th place by Hyundai with 802.000 (-3.9%).

At model-wise, pushed up by new generation launch, the Volkswagen Lavida recovered the leadership since June with the launch of last generation and established itself on top of the 2018 list with 503.825 (-2.6%) sales ahead the Nissan Sylphy able to escalate the ranking up to the second place with 481.216 (+18.9%) and the Wuling Hongguang with 476.538 (-10.5%).

The list of Chinese Best Selling models ranking for the current and previous year is available in dedicated section.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models

Chinese economy showed its strength once again and posted another solid reading for the quarter. GDP expanded 6.8% annually in Q4, matching Q3’s result and leading the economy to rise a strong 6.9% in the full year 2017.

While resilient private consumption and service activities continued to drive growth in Q4, the economy greatly benefited from strong global demand. Conversely, investment growth continued to moderate in Q4 amid the government’s efforts to curb pollution and overcapacity in certain industries.

Chinese domestic vehicles market in the 2016 has finally reduced the growing speed, while achieving a mix on global market of 30%. The future evolution is clearly driven more by real solution regarding the two main issues created by the last decade market boom, pollution and traffic congestion.

Chinese government has shifted its attention from total volume to engine mix and is progressively creating incentives to small and low emission vehicles, while supporting investment in the AFVs, mainly electric. In this direction, in January 2017 it has been increased the duties for vehicles with engines displacements over 1.6 liter (from 5% to 7.5%).

During the 2017, according to the data released by the C.A.A.M., (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) new light vehicles sales have been 28.2 million, up 0.9%.

At brand-wise, the leader was Volkswagen, with 3.18 million units (+5.2%) ahead of two brands fighting head-to-head for the second place Honda with 1.453.118 (+18.1%) and ChangAn with 1.441.165 (+3.6%.

Thanks to sales increase by 60%, Geely advanced in fourth place with 1.244.129 sales (+60.5%) and overtook several brands, including Buick actually fifth with 1.206.000 (-2.3%) and Toyota, sixth with 1.200.000 (+3.0%).

In seventh place Wuling, penalized by the decline of commercial vehicles segment, with 1.172.000 sales (-14.4%).

Nissan ranks eight with 1.124.000 units (+10.7%) ahead of Baojun with 1.015.000, +33.6% and in 10th place Ford with 931.000 (-11.3%).

At model-wise, after an amazing battle for the leadership, the Wuling Hongguang prevailed with 532.000 (-18.2%) over the Volkswagen Lavida, second with 517.000 (-5.7%).  In third place the Haval H6 with 505.000 (-12.9%).

The Top 100 models ranking special report is available here.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models

Market Outlook

Despite the implementation of measures to tighten the property market and less decisive policy support, the economy managed to expand at the fastest pace in one year in Q4. Robust dynamics in retail sales and manufacturing activities were behind the acceleration.

While the government will try to cushion any sharp slowdown, growth will moderate this year on the back of a cooling property market and rising global economic uncertainties. FocusEconomics panelists forecast that the economy will grow 6.4% in 2017.

As far as concern the automotive industry, the 2016 was spectacular with sales volume boosted by local demand further enhanced by government incentives to low displacement engines (below 1.600 cc) officially ending on December 21st, with a second half acceleration above any expectations.

More, in December for the very first time ever, sales volume exceeded the 3 million units. More sales in 1 month than a year in the sixth market in the World (UK).

According to the data released by the C.A.A.M., (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers), the total light vehicles sales (including both local produced and imported vehicles) in November had been 3.022.000, up +6.3%.

The year ended with sales at 27.97 million, up 12.0% from the 2015, scoring the 22nd all time record in a row. 2016 volume was the double than in the 2009.

Including all sales data (both local production and import data) focus2move Research Team has just released two new researches on this market. We read there as the Chinese industry outpaced the 30% of the World. The number of vehicles per 1000 inhabitants is now at 111, doubled in 5 years, still one seventh than in Europe.

Competitive Arena

Volkswagen sold over 3 million vehicles (+10.5%) over the double than the second, the Chinese ChangAn (1.4 million, +7.6%) and the third, Wuling, with 1.39 million.

Top performer of the year had been Honda (+23.4%), Mercedes (+26.8%), Geely (+41.1%) and Bajoun (+52.1%).

In the tables below, the top brands, manufacturers and models. Searching for the top 100 models ranking you can refer to the report dedicated.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models

Economic Outlook

Latest economic data suggest that the economy has slowly started to stabilize following the massive stimulus measures Chinese authorities had launched after the summer stock market crash. In November, retail sales continued to gain traction, while growth in all-important fixed-asset investment was stable for the first time since June.

On 30 November, the IMF decided to include the yuan in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket. The yuan will join the elite currency club starting from 1 October 2016 and, while a strong immediate impact is not expected, this represents a major backing of China’s economic reforms.

Meanwhile, later this month, Chinese authorities will gather in the annual Central Economic Work Conference to set the tone for next year’s economic policies and establish the economic targets. Rekindling economic growth, measures to reactivate the property sector and a clearer roadmap for economic reforms are expected to be at the top of the agenda.

Market Outlook

Vehicles market rebounded in the Q4 2015 following the October 5th introduction of 50% tax cut on vehicles with engine displacements of 1.6 liter or smaller and flied up a whopping 18% in December to 2.85 million light vehicles, the highest sales month ever.

Indeed, according to data released by the C.A.A.M., (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) the total new light passengers vehicles sold in December have been 2.845.0000, up 16.9% from December 2014.

The full year 2015 sales have been very near the 25 million, with 24.983.329 units, up 6.0% from the previous year, fixing the new All Time record at the highest level ever achieved by a single market.

China actually is not only the largest World automotive market but represents the 27.8% of global sales.

Competitive Arena

In December Volkswagen rushed up ending a wonderful Q4 with 235.776 sales (+29.4%), not enough to avoid to end the year down 2% from last year at 2.73 million units with market share declined at 10.9%.

Honda was second with 156.571 (+8.7%) ahead of the other Japanese Nissan advanced in third step with 135.692 sales (+53.4%) launching the new Lannia and with the Sylphy in the best ever place.

Wuling, in fourth  place sold 129.630 units (+0.4%), followed by Hyundai with 128.416 (+9.5%), Buick with 128.134 (+35.6%), Ford with 110.291 (+47.6%) and Toyota with 110.035 (-6.2%).

As far as the groups performance, the leader was again Volkswagen Group with market share dropped at 11.5%, followed by General Motors with 7.7%, Hyundai-Kia with 7.7% and SAIC  with 6.1%.

As far as the top best-selling models, the Wuling Hongguang was again the N°1 with 76.744 units (+1.1%) followed by the Baojun 730 with 47.690 (+51.5%), the Volkswagen Lavida with 44.478 (+57.6%), the Great Wall Haval H6 with 42.553 (+35.6%), the Nissan Sylphy with 41.802 (+27.0%) and the Hyundai Elantra with 37.134 (-10.4%).

As far as the full best-selling models ranking in the 2015, the details on the top 100 models are reported here.

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models