Small cars in vogue: J.D. Power
- Source: Global Times
- [14:08 August 03 2009]
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By Chen Xiaomin
Compact and mini cars were quite popular among car buyers during the first half of 2009 and sales even surpassed that of sedans, according to Jenny Gu, senior market analyst of J.D. Power Asia Pacific.
Unit sales of the low- and medium-end segment realized a 34.6 percent year-on-year growth in the first six months with market share rising from 22 to 24.7 percent, Gu said Friday.
The low- and medium-end segment includes mini cars, sub-compact cars and compact cars sold in China at below 100,000 yuan ($ 14,637).
The growth rate surpassed that of sedans, which grew only 21.61 percent.
Among 50 models of low-and medium-end cars, domestic brands were prominent, accounting for more than four-fifths of the sales.
The top five domestic brands in this group were BYD, Chery, Geely, Xiali and Chang'an, which account for more than half of the group sales.
Tianjin FAW Xiali Automotive, whose cars are all low- and medium-end cars, said in an announcement posted Thursday on the Shengzhen Stock Exchange that it sold 111,363 cars, up 11.34 percent from a year earlier.
"The government's tax incentives for 1.6-liter below – effective from January 20, 2009 to the end of the year – boosted sales. Besides, recovering consumer confidence also contributed to the sales boom," said Gu.
Nearly all low- and medium-end cars are below 1.6 liter.
Tianjin FAW Xiali struck a similar note. "The upbeat sales performance has been, to a large extent, boosted by demand stimulus policies and the emerging market in medium and small cities," It said in the announcement.
In this case, quite a lot of OEMs such as Jianghuai (JAC) and Great Wall, which traditionally produced commercial vehicles and larger SUVs, launched smaller vehicles to cash in on the rising demand.
JAC launched Tongyue RS in May. Great Wall launched Great Wall Florid in February, Great Wall Coolbear in March and Great Wall Peri in June.
