China Car Market Explodes, Buick Excelle sales up 64%

[importedtuna]

http://www.sema.org/main/semaorghome.aspx?ID=57277

Although only a very small percentage of the 1.3 billion Chinese citizens own cars, the number is growing. In 2006, automobile output and sales grew by over 25%, topping 7.20 million vehicles last year, according a recent CCID Consulting press release. The Chinese consulting firm states that China has become the second largest auto consumer and the third largest auto producer in the world.

The consulting firm also says that China’s automobile market’s maturing trend is reflected in four aspects: In terms of market structure, thanks to a new consumer tax policy, the demand for passenger cars in China has been greatly stimulated. Passenger cars are taking up an increasing proportion of the market, rising to 72% in 2006 from 69% in 2005.

[guitarlix]

Check out those VW sales figures. I didn't even know they were in the Chinese market.

[Porkfriedrice]

holy crap look how much the focus grew. 554 percent?! jesus

[T-Type]

Originally Posted by guitarlix

Check out those VW sales figures. I didn't even know they were in the Chinese market.

They were the #1 brand until GM passed them.

[Media!]

Does GM have chevy in China?

I know they have Buick and Cadillac, but what other GM brands are in China?

[slowinthefastlane]

Originally Posted by Porkfriedrice

holy crap look how much the focus grew. 554 percent?! jesus

It's even more distrubing how much the knock-off brand Chery grew (as well as it's ugly cousin Geely).

[genjy]

Looks like the Chinese market is good to everyone.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by slowinthefastlane

It's even more distrubing how much the knock-off brand Chery grew (as well as it's ugly cousin Geely).

It's probably the equivalent of buying a Daewoo or a Kia here in the U.S.

Just inexpensive cars for the average Joes who can only afford them.

[mplin]

Originally Posted by Media!

Does GM have chevy in China?

I know they have Buick and Cadillac, but what other GM brands are in China?

CHEVY and OPEL

Chevy's lineup
Aveo
Lova (New Aveo in US)
Epica
Sail
Also I think some of Chevy's older trucks like blazer and S-10

Opel's lineup
Zafira
Vectra
Astra

[Aromanances]

Maybe if the US Buick's were as good as the Chines Buick's sales would be up here too! I still don't get why they get the good stuff and we get leftovers.

[Chaz_23]

We've been hearing for a while that GM was #1, but how does one conclude that from this sales chart?

Originally Posted by T-Type

They were the #1 brand until GM passed them.

[GM-10]

That can't be a complete list.

[Bravada]

Yeah, I was expecting to see at least either the Sail, the Lova, the Regal, the LaCrosse or the GL8 in the Top 20...

But, OTOH, we have to remember most of the vehicles on the list are either cheapo local products (like the FAW N3, which is actually the ancient early 1990s Daihatsu Charade) or outdated models sent for retirement in China - e.g. the "Jetta" and "Passat" are not the the actual Jetta and Passat most of the Western world gets, but the heavily-rehashed second-gen Jetta VW is making there "ever since" alongside the Santana (remember that one?), while the "Passat" is actually the "Passat Lingyu" - a previous-gen B5 Passat after a facelift that included some elements from the Skoda Superb, itself based on the previous stretched Chinese "Passat". Those Volkswagens are made by the FAW-VW joint-venture, which holds the rights to most traditional VW nameplates in China, while the modern Volkswagens are made by Shanghai-VW and, due to the above circumstance, bear different names (the current Jetta is "Sagitar" and the current Passat is "Magotan" - Chinese reportedly find the latter name appealing).

Taking into account that the Chinese Hyundai Elantra/Avante is the previous model, the Excelle is perhaps the highest-ranking "contemporary" model on the list. Given that it probably costs a few times more than the QQ (and I guess the Focus, Camry or Accord are even dearer), it is not that bad. I think that the table best shows how fragmented and segmented the market in the PRC is.

[boblutzfan]

Originally Posted by importedtuna

What car is this based off of? Nice front end for a small car. Again - why don't we see stuff like this in the States? I am not saying we need a small Buick - WE DONT - but it would be nice to see smartly designed GM small cars.

[63cat]

Slap on some portholes and bring it stateside, with a new name. Excelle is too similar to the miserable Hyundai Excel.