I don’t know since when, joint-venture compact SUVs have begun to be unpopular, and the once hot-selling models have gradually been marginalized by the market.
According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, the domestic narrow passenger car sales in the first half of the year was 9.839 million units, an increase of 3.2% year-on-year, among which the sales of compact SUVs was 421,000 units, a year-on-year decline of 15.5%, accounting for 4.3% of the total market.
Looking at the sales list in the first half of the year, there are only 10 models with sales exceeding 10,000 units. Geely Binyue led the ranking list with an absolute advantage of 38,320 units and won the championship. BYD Yuan UP and Lynk & Co 06 followed closely behind, ranking second and third with sales of 28,094 units and 25,299 units respectively. Among them, BYD Yuan UP is a brand-new model launched by BYD on March 26. The price range is 9.68-11.98 ten thousand yuan. It is the first compact SUV of BYD equipped with the e-platform 3.0 and is positioned lower than Yuan PLUS to further fill the vacancy of BYD in the A0-class SUV market.
Among the top ten list, GAC Trumpchi GS3 ranked fourth with 21,829 units, and Wuling Xingchi, Changan CS35PLUS, and Geely Geometry E Firefly from independent brands ranked 6th, 7th, and 8th with sales of 14,431 units, 13,858 units, and 13,457 units respectively.
There are a total of three joint-venture models in the top ten list, namely Honda XR-V, Honda缤zhi, and Volkswagen Tanying. However, these models have performed very ordinarily compared to the past. The new-generation Honda XR-V was launched in August 2022, and the new-generation Honda Binzhi was launched in November 2022. The price range is both 13.29-15.29 ten thousand yuan, and the power still uses a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated engine. However, after the replacement, the XR-V and Binzhi can hardly be sold. Shortly after the launch, news of price reduction and promotion came out, but the stimulation to the terminal market is still very limited. In 2023, the annual sales of XR-V is 52,608 units, which was overtaken by Geely Binyue, Lynk & Co 06, and GAC Trumpchi GS3, while Binzhi is 39,371 units, which was overtaken by Changan CS35PLUS and Wuling Xingchi.
Outside the top ten list, Smart #1, Dayun Yuehu, Chery Tiggo 5x, Nissan Kicks, Geely Lynk & Co 06 New Energy, Baojun Yueye, Chery Tiggo 3x, Volkswagen T-Cross, Audi Q2L all have more than 5,000 units, most of which are mainly fuel vehicles.
In addition, there are ten models with sales less than 1,000 units, including FAW Senya R7, Honda e:NP1 Jipai 1, Ruilan X3 PRO, Dongfeng Fengguang E3, Peugeot 2008, Chevrolet Trax, Kia Sona, Audi Q2L e-tron, Honda VE-1, and Qichen T60EV. Among them, Kia Sona is a brand-new compact SUV launched by Yueda Kia at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show. It was jointly developed and designed by Kia Motors India and Kia’s global R & D headquarters in Korea, with a price range of 9.19-10.09 ten thousand yuan. Judging from the market performance, as a joint-venture brand, it is not as good as the mainstream Honda and Volkswagen, and the product power performance is not as good as that of independent brands, resulting in its continued sluggish sales.
Let’s take a look at the small car market again. Currently, the small car market has shrunk sharply, and the market share is less than 2%, but there are still many models with sales of more than 10,000 units, including BYD Seagull, Wuling Bingo, BYD Dolphin, Euler Good Cat, and Honda Fit. Among them, the highest-selling BYD Seagull is 167,861 units, while the once hot-selling Honda Fit only has a few thousand units.
