CHINA State of the Commercial Fleet Market in China The new-vehicle market has been up and down for the 2017 calendar-year, but demand for SUVs and luxury vehicles continues to remain strong. The sales forecast is that the growth rate for 2017 will be lower than prior years. BY MIKE ANTICH C hina is the world’s largest auto-motive market, both in terms of sales and units manufactured. In calendar-year 2016, there were 28 million vehicles manufactured in Chi-na, representing almost a third of the to-tal global production. he Chinese OEM brands have per-formed the best in the Chinese domestic market, gaining market share from foreign brands by introducing new small crossovers, which as elsewhere in the world, continue to be the type of automotive products de-sired by consumers. A case in point is the Chinese OEM Geely, which nearly doubled sales year-to-date in the 2017 calendar-year on strong demand for three new crossovers. On the other hand, another Chinese OEM Great Wall Motor Co., the coun-try’s largest manufacturer of crossovers and SUVs, has seen a sotening of sales as its product line has started to grow long-in-the-tooth. Great Wall Motor Co. was founded in 1984 and is the 7th largest automaker in China, with a market share of 3.8%. In 2016, it had sales of 1.1 million vehicles, with SUVs making up 933,000 of the to-tal units sold. Great Wall recently made internation-al news when it was reported to be inter-ested in buying Jeep, which has expand-ed global production into Latin America, Asia, and Europe. In 2016, Jeep’s global sales were 1.41 million vehicles, of which, a third were sold outside North Ameri-ca in major markets such as China, Bra-zil, and India. Other OEMs selling crossovers are also experiencing vulnerability because of stag-nant product lineups. From 2013 to 2014, PSA achieved robust sales growth in Chi-na ater it launched two small crossovers, the Peugeot 2008 and 3008. Since then, the French automaker has failed to fresh-en its product lineup. As a result, its two joint ventures with Dongfeng Motor Co. and Changan Automobile Co. have expe-rienced declining sales volumes. One reason for the decline is that Chi-nese consumers change vehicles more oten than owners elsewhere, and they are particularly interested in crossovers, which makes newer models more desir-able to them. In April 2017, General Motors launched the all-new third generation 2018 Chev-rolet Equinox crossover SUV in China, with kickoff sales off to a good start. The Equinox has held its own in China’s high-ly-competitive crossover segment ac-counting for 4,600 deliveries in August, The Buick GL8 is an MPV that is made by SAIC-GM, a joint-venture between Chinese automaker SAIC Motor and General Mo-tors. The Buick GL8 is only sold in China. The Buick Envision is a compact luxury crossover SUV built in China by SAIC-GM. It irst went on sale in China in late 2014. The Chinese name for the Envision is “Ang Ke Wei.” It is one of GM’s best-selling vehicles in China. The Chevrolet Cruze was launched in the Chinese car market in July 2016. It is made in China by SAIC-GM. It is the same car as the North American Cruze built in the U.S. and Mexico. 4 AUTOMOTIVE FLEET I Q3 2017
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