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According to figures released by the Federation of passengers on January 9, retail sales in the passenger car market in December 2023 were 2.353 million, up 8.5% from a year earlier and 13.1% from a month earlier.

According to the ranking of retail sales, the top 10 car companies in December were BYD, FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC-Volkswagen, Geely, Changan, Chery, Dongfeng Nissan, SAIC GM Wuling, FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota.

Among them, BYD remains the top passenger car seller in China, leading a group of independent joint venture brands with sales of 300000 vehicles, while Changan Automobile ranks fifth on the list, with retail sales falling 26.7% year-on-year to 123000 vehicles in December. It is the only independent brand that has seen a year-on-year decline. Chery, by contrast, is growing rapidly, rising 36.6 per cent to 112000 in December from a year earlier.

Among the joint venture brands, three Japanese car companies entered the top 10 in December, namely Dongfeng Nissan, FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota. Dongfeng's daily production and sales volume was 95000, up 42.8 percent from the same period last year, making it the highest increase on the list. As for FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, although they entered the top 10, their sales fell year-on-year, with December sales of 85000 and 76000 respectively, down 16.6 per cent and 24.0 per cent respectively.

In terms of German brands, FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen ranked second and third respectively in December, with FAW-Volkswagen up 18.3 per cent to 213000 vehicles and SAIC-Volkswagen up 2.2 per cent to 147000 vehicles.

Self-brand retail sales were 1.24 million vehicles in December, up 17 per cent from a year earlier, up 8 per cent from a month earlier, and a market share of 52.9 per cent, up 4 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Federation. With the increase in market share of domestic car companies such as BYD, Geely, Changan and Chery, independent brands grew strongly and their market share further expanded during the year, with a cumulative market share of 52% in 2023, an increase of 4.6% over the same period last year. The retail share of mainstream joint venture brands was 790000, down 7 per cent from the same period last year and up 20 per cent from the previous year, of which the retail share of German brands was 20.5 per cent, the share of Japanese brands was 16.5 per cent, down 2.3 per cent from the same period last year, and that of American brands was 7.3 per cent, down 1.1 per cent from the same period last year.

Judging from the annual sales in 2023, the cumulative retail sales of the passenger car market in 2023 was 21.699 million units, an increase of 5.6 per cent over the same period last year. In terms of retail sales, the top 10 car companies in 2023 are BYD, FAW-Volkswagen, Geely Automobile, Changan Automobile, SAIC Volkswagen, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, SAIC General Motors, Chery Automobile, FAW Toyota and Great Wall Motor.

In terms of subdivision, BYD is still the top seller in China's passenger car market, which is the first time that BYD has surpassed FAW-Volkswagen again after 2022. Although FAW-Volkswagen still has a high market share in the domestic market, but in the field of new energy vehicles, FAW-Volkswagen and BYD have opened an obvious gap.

BYD's sales have hit record highs since it announced the suspension of the sale of fuel cars in April 2022, while Volkswagen's joint ventures in China have yet to make an appearance in new energy vehicles. Under the dual pressure of electrified transformation and global market competition, even if Volkswagen has a great determination to transform in the electrified field, it is difficult to be left alone, resulting in weak sales of Volkswagen's joint venture brands in China. and its lost market share is gradually being absorbed by its own brands. In short, it also means that Chinese brands led by BYD have begun to challenge the position of joint venture brands in the Chinese market.

According to the data, BYD's annual sales in 2023 were 2.706 million vehicles, an increase of 50.0% over the same period last year, with a market share of 12.5%. For comparison, FAW-Volkswagen, which ranked second, sold 1.847 million vehicles in 2023, up only 3.8% from a year earlier, while SAIC Volkswagen fell to fifth on the list, with annual sales of 1.231 million vehicles, down 1.0% from a year earlier.

Geely and Changan were ranked third and fourth, with sales of 1.412 million and 1.372 million respectively in 2023, up 14.4 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively over the same period last year. In addition, among its own brands, Chery rose 12.9 per cent year-on-year to 811000 vehicles, while Great Wall ranked last on the list, with annual sales of 760000 vehicles, up 0.2 per cent year-on-year.

Finally, let's take a look at other joint venture brands in the list. among Japanese car companies, only two Japanese manufacturers, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota and FAW Toyota, entered the top 10 in 2023, ranking 6th and 9th respectively. Guangzhou Auto Toyota fell 7.3% year-on-year to 901000 vehicles, FAW Toyota slightly increased 0.3% to 802000 vehicles, including Guangzhou Automobile Honda, Dongfeng Honda and Dongfeng Nissan all fell out of the top 10.

However, the poor sales performance of Japanese car companies is only a microcosm of joint venture brands. For example, among the American brands, only SAIC GM was on the list, with sales of 870000 vehicles in 2023, down 16.1% from the same period last year. Obviously, as a joint venture brand of SAIC Group, SAIC GM is also in the gap to survive.

At present, SAIC GM has three major brands: Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet, whose products cover high-end, mainstream, middle and low-end markets, but the sales volume in the market is much lower than before. It is understood that SAIC GM reached its sales peak of 1.999 million vehicles since its inception in 2017, second only to SAIC Volkswagen in the Chinese market. SAIC GM's market share has been declining since then, with sales of 1.0369 million vehicles in 2022, down 18.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Taken together, it is still independent brands, especially BYD, that perform well in 2023, while the "frustration" of the joint venture brand is related to its lack of prominence in the new energy sector. In the face of the current "reshuffle" of the global automobile industry, joint venture brands urgently need to make more changes to help them regain their vitality.

"the growth of retail sales in the passenger car market in 2023 was also a serious victory, but with the transformation of electrification and the continued contribution of export growth, it will be a trend for China to produce and sell more than 40 million vehicles in the future," the Federation said. "

As for the outlook for the passenger car market in 2024, the Federation said that January 2024 is four days more than the 18 working days of the same period in 2023. January's effective production and marketing time is very long, the effect of a good start will be very outstanding, so 2024 is a big year of consumption.

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