Changan outsold Honda
The most popular car brand in China in the first quarter of this year was BYD: in the first three months it sold 545 365 cars. Volkswagen is in second place, but the lag is significant: the German brand, through several of its subsidiaries, sold «total» 482 655 cars. Toyota closes the top 3: the Japanese brand sold 327 309 cars to China in the first quarter.
The top 5 also included Geely (244 750 cars sold) and Changan (240 922 cars). Both outsold Honda (234 915 units, 6th place). The Wuling brand sold 192 629 vehicles in China in the first quarter and secured seventh place. Cheap Wuling cars sell better than premium ones from BMW: 157 687 cars sold and 8th place in the rating. The top 10 is rounded out by Nissan, whose sales in China are steadily declining (147 429 cars sold in the first quarter, 9th place) and Mercedes-Benz (145 113 cars, 10th place). It is significant that Mercedes-Benz ousted another European premium brand from the top 10 — Audi.
BYD's success is due not least to dumping: at the beginning of the year, the company brought down the price of its cars so that other market players had no choice but to reduce prices in response.