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32 Comments on “China’s Top-Ten Selling Sedans In July...”
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Hmm, where are all them Buicks? Looks like a Vee-Dub fest…
Virtually all the taxi’s in China are VW (with manual transmissions) purchased as cheaply as possible. I frequent Shanghai, Beijing and Hang Zhou so I know this.
For Buick to be #4 is actually a pretty damned good spot because the taxi companies don’t use it – the people who can afford to buy a car do. The mere fact they’ll take a Buick over a GAO XING, MEI TIAN or a CHERRY speaks to how much Chinese people HATE Chinese products. Most Chinese I know HATE to buy Chinese products because they know how poorly they are made. Some of them hate the Japanese and refuse to buy Japan brands, but, many of them will take Japanese over Chinese just so they know it won’t fail soon thereafter.
The only Chinese car on the top 10 list is the BYD F3 which is a RIPOFF of the Corolla and costs less than $12,000 out the door. That should say alot.
i can imagine that guy on the extreme left thinking “What the hell is this? Looks like a 1984 Jetta with an ugly nose job!”
+1
I’d like to see all of these models compared to their overseas counterparts. Something tells me they’re not quite what we North Americans think they are.
Thats because it IS a 1984 (or 1985 in the U.S. market) Jetta with an ugly nose job. My first VW was one of the A2s so to see that they still build them somewhere is cool to me. I wonder why they don’t use the “City” monikor, like they do with the A4 Jetta they still sell in Canada (and probably elsewhere) and the A1 Golf that was built until very recently in South Africa.
What’s the difference between a Bora and a Jetta?
In China the VW Jetta is an updated version of the second generation Jetta. This car targets the lower end of the market as it is quite cheap. In some Chinese cities it is the main vehicle of choice for taxi companies.
The VW Bora is the fourth generation (Bora Classic) or fifth generation (current) version of the Jetta. It is more expensive and larger … and targeted at more affluent buyers.
The latest Jetta is the Sagitar.
Wow, looks like someone took my 85 Jetta and put an ugly front end on it. Wonder how much that goes for.
So basically GM’s domination in China is as mythical as their improved quality and reliability in the states.
According to Wikipedia, the Buick Excelle is a Daewoo Lacetti, rebadged courtesy of GM’s ownership of Daewoo. I keep seeing articles about GM doing well in China in terms of sales volume. I’d be curious to see the ratio of Daewoo-based cars to “real” GM cars (i.e., not engineered by/with GM-DAT). Are Chinese consumers actually buying the GMs we in the US see on our roads and think of as American cars?
Chinese consumers have been buying GM vehicles similar to those we see on the roads in North America. The fourth generation of the Buick Regal sold very well in China. I see these all over the place in Shanghai and the surrounding provinces.
My business partner owns a Buick Regal. His car has a five speed manual transmission and a 2.0 litre four cylinder engine rather than the 3800 V6 and automatic transmission we got in North America. I drove his car briefly when I was in Zhejiang Province … it was strange to drive such a big car with a four banger and a standard transmission!
The Chevrolet Venture / Pontiac Montana minivans were also sold in China as the Buick GL8. A Taiwanese guy I worked with had one of these. You see a fair number of these in China.
As of late, however, Shanghai-GM seems to be shifting away from North American based products. Daewoo and Opel designs have been a key part of Shanghai-GM’s line up for many years. Increasingly, however, Germany and Korean designed GM products are forming the backbone of GM’s product line in China (although the same can be said for GM in North America, I think!).
Well, now I don’t feel so bad about the MkIV “City Golf” and “City Jetta” VW foists on Canadians.
Considering that the MkIV Golf/Jetta were likely the last of the “good” Golf/Jetta line (before they first got complicated, then got ‘Toyotafied’) I don’t know that I agree with the word “foists”.
Then again I would take one of the South African City Golfs if I could import one.
The problem with the MkIV is that, nice as it was, it had serious reliability issues. The “City” models are cost-cut MkIVs, which doesn’t inspire confidence.
The MkV seems to have held up well. I haven’t a lot of faith in the NCS.
True, but by the end of the model run most of those issues (power window regulators, bad coil packs, etc.) were ironed out. Add to that the decontenting they seemed to have done to meet the price point and I’d be willing to believe that most of the reliability issues have been resolved. I drive an ’03 Jetta TDI so I am a bit biased.
I’m not surprised that the top three sellers are Volkswagens. The VW Jetta seems to be extremely popular in Western China … last month I rode around in a few of these (as taxis) and passed by the FAW-VW factory in Chengdu (Sichuan) that assembles them. I see lots of Santanas and Lavidas in Shanghai and surrounding Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces. The Lavida, in particular, seems to be growing in popularity. When the Santana is phased out I imagine some low end version of the Lavida will replace it.
I thought the BYD F3 would be higher up on the list. I see these Toyota Corolla (ninth generation) knockoffs all over the place in China.
Interesting comments from TokyoPlumber and bigtruckseries based on their actual visits to China.
Totally agree with GarbageMotorsCo comment, too.
Reminds me of my time in South Africa…and driving around in a Citigolf…basically, the MkI Golf, but slightly updated (with AC and power windows, no less)! I was thinking that for the right price, I’d not mind having one back in the States.
You can’t beat a cheap proven car. And both 1-2 positions prove it.
Cheap and available parts, known mechanicals, part interchange, good used car value.
For more examples, see Nissan Tsuru (B13 Sentra), Fiat Uno (old one), Peugeot 405, Opel Corsa 2/B/2nd gen etc…, recently discontinued MKI Golf, Fiat 131 (yes someone still makes them), and I guess some others.
Someone ought to have fun writing a review of that Santana Vista.
The visual cues are amazing. From the front alone I see a decades-old Fox and Passat body, and the headlights and grille of a 2003 Phaeton.
Son of Frankenstein!
Well, it’s a restyled and updated version of the old european Santana, AKA sedan version of the 2nd generation VW Passat from the 80ies (81-88), AKA VW Quantum in the US… Brazil stopped restyling the Santana in 1998, retired the wagon in 2002 and stopped building the sedan in 2006. China continues.
Wow – what happened to the F3? Wasn’t it on top last year? I guess more Buffett promos are needed.
The Bertel Schmitt School of Marketing would tell you that this family hasn’t made it big. Just one kid in the picture. Losers.
That’s one sharp Jetta Mk.II.
I’d still prefer a Toyota Crown Comfort for a cab.
The new Crowns are too expensive and upscale for taxis. I rode an old one from Shenzhen to Hong Kong frequently. Had all the appeal of a Checker.
It seems rich people drive Toyonda and poor people drive VW.
Tell that to the Phaeton, Passat, and Magoton drivers. On the other hand, there are several upscale Toyotas (I’m not talking Lexi) not imported into the US that are sold in China.
mpresley, don’t get me wrong. I do believe some Phaeton got sold in China. But look, non of the cars you mentioned end up on the top 10 chart.
Out of these 10, only Camry and Accord are midsize. The other 8 are all non-luxury compacts.
Maybe I should rephrase my statement a little bit:
Out of the most popular models (in terms of sales), Toyonda dominates the higher end, while VW has the lower end.
Do sedans sell that well in China or is there also a big hatchback population like there is in Europe? Since it appears that GM is the leader over there, do you have the breakdowns of cars by model type and by month to month? Would be interesting to see.
July and YTD positions are a little different.
http://autonews.gasgoo.com/data-center/top-10-sedan-brands-line-up-by-sales-in-china-ja-100719.shtml
Shanghai taxis are mostly VW because of SAIC and VW. There’s also a bunch of Buick taxis which are sooooo nice after being in rattletrap Santanas. Beijing taxis are mostly Hyundai because of Hyundai and BAIC.
Nothing in your link.