YU NAKAMURA, Nikkei staff writer
HONG KONG -- SAIC Motor sold 5.86 million new cars in 2015, taking the top spot for the second straight year, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The figure rose 5% on the year.
Given that annual sales in China stood at 24.59 million vehicles, SAIC Motor accounts for 23.8% of the auto market share in its home country. In other words, SAIC was the choice of one in four or five people who bought a new car during the last year.
The strong performance was backed by increased sales of cars under brands of SAIC Motor's key joint venture partners, General Motors of the U.S. and Volkswagen of Germany. In particular, GM's Buick models sold well.
Dongfeng Motor Group came in second, with 3.87 million units sold, up 1.8% on the year, thanks to solid sales of models under brands of its Japanese joint venture partners, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor.
China FAW Group placed third, with 2.84 million units sold, down 7.9% from a year earlier. The automaker struggled to sell cars of its major German joint venture partner Volkswagen. In addition, FAW saw an unexpected change of chairman, as Chinese authorities put the former top official under a probe in the country's anti-graft crackdown. The management turmoil also weighed on the company's sales.
Fourth place went to Changan Automobile, which also has joint venture partners -- Ford Motor of the U.S. and Mazda Motor of Japan. Chongqing Changan Automobile is a unit under the Changan Automobile group.
The fifth-place BAIC Group runs Beijing Hyundai Motor, a joint venture with Hyundai Motor of South Korea.
Guangzhou Automobile Group, came in sixth, operates joint ventures in
cooperation with Japanese partners Honda and Toyota Motor.
Among those focusing on their own brand names instead of foreign ones, Great Wall Motor occupied the eighth slot, followed by China Anhui Jianghuai Automobile and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
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