China's 10 Largest Passenger Vehicle Manufacturers 2009

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Remember how GM brags that they are the largest auto manufacturer in China? CAAM, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says otherwise (via Gasgoo.) Here is the official CAAM list of the 10 largest passenger vehicle manufacturers in China, and their units sold in 2009:

  1. Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co: 708,100 units
  2. FAW-VW Automobile Co Ltd: 669,200 units
  3. Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd: 668,200 units
  4. Beijing Hyundai Motor Co: 521,000 units
  5. Dongfeng Nissan Ltd: 459,300 units
  6. BYD Co Ltd: 448,400 units
  7. Chery Automobile Co Ltd: 409,300 units
  8. Guangqi Honda Automobile Co Ltd: 337,200 units
  9. Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co Ltd: 334,700 units
  10. Geely Holding Group Co Ltd: 329,100 units

Taken into account that VW makes their Chinese cars with two joint ventures, SVW and FAW-VW, Volkswagen’s combined total rises to 1,377,300. The imported VWs bring the number well above 1.4m .

In 2009, the combined sales volume of the ten largest auto makers amounted to 4.88 million units, accounting for 65 percent of the total sedan sales in China.

Curiously, the BYD F3 is the best-selling car model last year, with 291,000 units sold. GM inflates its numbers by using the more than 1m commercial vehicles, cranked out by a SAIC/Wuling/GM joint venture, in which GM holds a minority interest of 34 percent. Wisely, the CAAM omitted them from the count.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
 8 comments
  • Abcars Abcars on Jan 20, 2010

    668k is not bad for GM, hopefully Ford can crack into the market with their new cars.

  • Ernie Ernie on Jan 20, 2010

    I rode in a chinese VW when I was there . . . 1997 Saturn S car felt more beefy.

    • Criminalenterprise Criminalenterprise on Jan 20, 2010

      Any car is an improvement over a bicycle or an oxcart. Even in nominal dollars it is pretty incredible to think how much car your dollar buys in the U.S.. Whether you compare us to China, India, South America or even Europe, I doubt you can find better deals than what we command.

  • CyCarConsulting CyCarConsulting on Jan 20, 2010

    Chinese cities are full of VW taxis, it could reflect the numbers.

    • See 1 previous
    • Ernie Ernie on Jan 20, 2010

      All the taxis in ChongQing were (some kind of) VW. Hong Kong had Toyota Crowns . . . to which I gawked at the endless space in the back seat :o

  • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on Jan 20, 2010

    This has been the situation for a number of years now ... GM was up to its old smoke & mirrors trick of claiming inappropriate share by parsing production statistics... It would be interesting to see production numbers by brand filtered by the %-share of equity held by the western automakers ... it would look like this: SGM total: 668k (this reflects GM-brand vehicles sold); GM-share of the 668k: 333k (or whatever it is based on GM's 49% share in SGM).

    • Abcars Abcars on Jan 20, 2010

      I think the 668k are all GM brand cars, but you can apply the 49-50% to all foreign car makers in China if you want.

Next