Chinese Car Market Up 45% In The First 9 Months Of 2007!

It’s crazy but according to data released by JATO, the market for domestically-assembled cars in China grew to 4,417,252 units in the first nine months of 2007, up 45,3% on the reported figures during the same period in 2006! In the third quarter, the Chinese car market reached 1,451,823 units, 44 percent ahead of the same period of last year.

"China continues to demonstrate a voracious appetite for new cars," says Nasir Shah, Global Business Development Director at JATO. "Despite an increasing demand for high quality foreign imports, domestically produced products offer good value for money to the many millions of consumers who are making their first car purchase. -Continued after the jump

In terms of brand performance, Volkswagen managed to top the charts in the first nine months of the year with a 30% gain compared to the same period last year. VW was followed by Wuling (it didn’t report volumes in 2006), Toyota (+61,5%), Chery (+43,1%) and Honda (+31,7%).

"The combination of a fast-growing market, significant investment in new products, new brands and improved distribution systems, is all contributing to the significantly increased volumes over the past year," says Shah. "Many brands are up by at least 50%, whilst some have posted extraordinary growth, such as Brilliance, which is up 516%".

China’s top selling vehicles during the fist nine months were the Wuling Light/Sunshine/City Breeze and the Chana Green Star mini-mpvs. In the top 10 list we also find the Volkswagen Santana, Buick Excelle, Volkswagen Jetta, Toyota Camry, Chery QQ, FAW N3, Hafei Zhongyi/Minyi and the Honda Accord

As far as segments are concerned, the lower medium segment is the largest in the Chinese market with a 27.4% share during the first three quarters of the year with the Ford Focus, Nissan Tiida, Haima Family, Chery Cowin and Toyota Corolla leading the charts. The second most popular segment is the upper medium segment with a 20.9% share, led by the VW Santana and Jetta, Buick Excelle, Volkswagen Passat and Hyundai Elantra. The third largest segment are the Mini MPVs with a 17.9% market share led by the Wuling Light/Sunshine/City Breeze, Chana Green Star, Hafei Zhongyi/Minyi, Honda Odyssey and JAC Refine

Via: JATO