Great Wall, BYD sales rise despite market downturn

www.autonewschina.com|February 27 , 2019

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Automotive News China | 2019/2/22


Two major private Chinese automakers, Great Wall Motor Co. and BYD Co., reported modest January sales increases despite continued contraction of the domestic auto market. 


Last month, sales at Great Wall, China’s largest light-truck maker, edged up 1.5 percent from a year earlier to 111,715 on demand for its pickups.


Great Wall’s pickup deliveries rose 4 percent to 11,464. But sales of its crossovers and SUVs dipped 2.5 percent to 96,319. 


Deliveries of the first two models under the company’s Ora electric vehicle brand -- a compact sedan and a subcompact car -- totaled 3,785. 


Great Wall stopped developing gasoline sedans several years ago. Last month, sales of its sole gasoline sedan, the Great Wall-badged C30, shrank to 147. 


At BYD, China’s largest electrified vehicle manufacturer, January sales gained 3.7 percent to 43,920 behind strong deliveries of its full-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. 


Last month, total sales of its electrified vehicles soared 291 percent from a year earlier to 28,668. The tally includes 28,005 passenger vehicles and 663 commercial vehicles, including buses and trucks. 


In sharp contrast, sales of BYD’s gasoline-powered vehicles plunged 56 percent to 15,252 in the month. 


The three largest private Chinese light-vehicle makers have posted sales growth for January. 


Earlier, Geely Automobile Holdings, China’s largest passenger-vehicle maker, reported its sales increased 2 percent year on year last month to 158,393, thanks to the volume generated by its Lynk & CO premium brand.  


In January, new-vehicle sales in China dropped for the seventh consecutive month, slumping 16 percent from a year earlier to 2.37 million. But deliveries of EVs and plug-in hybrids remained robust, surging 138 percent to around 96,000 in the month.