SAIC's October Rise Indicates Strong Volkswagen China Sales. Ford Up 48%

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

China’s SAIC told Reuters today that its October auto sales rose 20.7 percent year-on-year to 414,471 units. This indicates a very strong jump in Volkswagen sales.

SAIC has car joint ventures with GM and Volkswagen, in addition to currently not highly consequential own brand sales. Ignoring own brand sales, as a rule of thumb, GM amounts to roughly two thirds of SAIC’s sales, Volkswagen one third. Volkswagen also has a joint venture with FAW.

GM’s China sales were up approximately 14 percent in October. A 20.7 percent rise in overall SAIC sales would indicate that the numerically smaller Volkswagen share saw considerable growth in October. Volkswagen’s China sales were up 24 percent in September, the company said.

Volkswagen outsold GM in China in the third quarter of the year. In the first nine months, GM was only 80,000 units ahead of Volkswagen. With a strong October, Volkswagen could bypass GM in China and dethrone it as China’s largest automaker by units.

Ford’s China sales were up 48 percent to 60,518 units in October. For the year, Ford’s sales are up 14 percent, mainly driven by very good Focus sales.

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.

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  • Th009 Th009 on Nov 06, 2012

    Technically, VW wouldn't actually top them as the top automakers, as the cars are built by FAW and SAIC, but the top brand group. But I'm picking nits ...

    • Bertel Schmitt Bertel Schmitt on Nov 06, 2012

      Don't tell that to GM. The majority of their Chinese cars has Wulimg badges and is made by Wuling ....

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