The craze for Chinese SUV explodes – Le Figaro

Haval H6, Changan CS35 or Huansu … S3 models of cars unknown to the Western public, but which are all SUV and genuine blockbusters. In 2015, sales of SUVs have surged 45% in China.

The Beijing auto show, which opens Monday, April 25 will still show the dynamism of Chinese origin marks. Haval H6, Changan CS35 or Huansu S3. These cars names do you say probably nothing. Yet it is true blockbusters in China. And they have the same characteristic: all are SUV. The development of this type of cars, 4×4 forms but developed on a standard sedan base explodes in China.

If SUVs are finding success throughout the world, the popularity of Chinese is still unique. In 2015, sales of SUVs in China have soared from 45% to 6 million units, representing nearly 30% of the passenger car market. This success has several explanations. First, the taste of Chinese drivers aligns increasingly on the Western drivers. But change, as often in China, is very fast, leading to the real market disruption. Then, manufacturers have smelled it rich, and increased the SUV launches in recent months. The offer, as often, also contributes to the development of demand.

Renault presents well at this year’s Beijing Motor Show its Koleos, new generation, a large SUV that will be assembled in its new plant in Wuhan. Volkswagen announced a major offensive in the SUV. But it is the Chinese brands that have benefited the most because they have launched the first in this segment. In addition, they offer very competitive price models, which is their main advantage over Western brands, which is, again, to market changes. The economic crisis is also felt in the automotive world. And development starts winning cities a more modest size, the Chinese scale, where the purchasing power is less important than in mega-cities of the coast.

Consequences: the Chinese are steadily gaining market share compared to Western! Between 2014 and 2015, local brands have increased by 39% of sales to 42%. And since the beginning of the year, they even mounted to 46%. Provided the market remains dominated by non-Chinese brands. The top three is thus composed of General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai.