The latest data released by the China Passenger Car Association shows that the cumulative retail sales of the domestic passenger car market in 2024 will be 22.894 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%.
In recent years, the market share of domestic brands has been rising. In December, domestic brand sales reached 1.64 million units, up 12% year-on-year, and the domestic retail share was 62.3%, up 9.3% year-on-year.
Thanks to leading automakers such as BYD Auto, Geely Auto, Chery Automobile, and Changan Automobile, the cumulative share of domestic brands will climb to 61% in 2024, an increase of 8.6 percentage points year-on-year.
In December, mainstream joint venture brands sold 710,000 vehicles, down 11% year-on-year. Among them, German brands had a retail share of 16.2%, Japanese brands had a retail share of 13.4%, and American brands had a market share of 6.7%.
From the perspective of the retail sales ranking of manufacturers in 2024, the top ten automakers are BYD Auto, Geely Auto, FAW-Volkswagen, Changan Automobile, Chery Automobile, SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM-Wuling, FAW Toyota, GAC Toyota, and Tesla China. Among them, BYD Auto topped the list with sales of 3.718 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 37.4%, and a market share of 16.2%.
In addition, BYD Auto's sales in December were 403,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, which is the sales volume of many automakers in an entire year.
On January 11, 2025, at the Taicang Port Area of Suzhou Port in Jiangsu Province, the clean energy vehicle ro-ro ship "BYD Hefei" was carrying out export vehicle shipping operations at the Haitong (Taicang) Automobile Terminal.
Geely Auto ranks second, with cumulative sales of 1.773 million vehicles in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 28.0%, of which sales in December were 186,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 46.9%. Geely's passenger car segment currently has four major brands: Geely, Geely Galaxy, Lynk & Co, and Zeekr. Each brand has a different mission and positioning, covering most of the market segments.
The "you're welcome" Chery gradually gained momentum in 2024. In the field of hybrid technology, new technologies such as the Kunpeng Super Hybrid C-DM5.0 system, stepless super electric hybrid DHT and three-speed super electric hybrid DHT allowed it to occupy a place in the fast-growing hybrid field.
Thanks to this, Chery Automobile's retail sales in 2024 reached 1.335 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 64.6%, of which the growth in December was 77.3%.
In contrast, Changan Automobile, ranked fourth, saw a year-on-year decline of 0.6% with sales of 1.366 million vehicles.
Wei Jianjun and his Great Wall Motors quietly fell out of the top ten in terms of retail sales in 2024. However, Great Wall Motors may be the leader in breaking the price involution. According to its third-quarter financial report, the average selling price of its bicycles is 166,600 yuan, 28,300 yuan higher than in 2023.
Although joint venture brands are actively transforming, their market performance is under pressure. FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen ranked third and sixth respectively. FAW-Volkswagen's sales fell 12.9% year-on-year to 1.609 million vehicles, and in December it fell 24.8% year-on-year to 161,000 vehicles, making it the only automaker to decline in the December list. SAIC Volkswagen's sales fell 2.6% year-on-year to 1.200 million vehicles in 2024.
As for Japanese brands, only FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota made it into the top ten, with sales of 798,000 and 770,000 vehicles, down 0.5% and 14.5% year-on-year, respectively. Needless to say, the common problem of Japanese brands is that smart electric vehicles are their eternal pain. Fortunately, Toyota is catching up with an unprecedented correct attitude. For example, GAC Toyota can already use its own products and joint ventures for technology co-creation, and use Chinese technology in joint venture vehicles.
In addition, Toyota China recently appointed Li Hui as its new general manager, which indirectly reflects Toyota's determination to localize.
Tesla China ranks tenth, with sales of 657,000 vehicles in 2024, up 8.9% year-on-year. Compared with other automakers, Tesla has only two models in the domestic market, Model 3 and Model Y, and the recently released new version of Model Y has only been slightly adjusted in the interior and exterior design, and basic functions such as seat heating have been added. As time goes by, the gap in product strength between Tesla and its Chinese competitors will continue to widen.
Nvidia and other technology companies are competing to release the latest chips, which will undoubtedly attract many car companies. Smart driving and smart cabins are expected to continue to be popular in 2025.
In addition, GAC and Huawei recently announced the establishment of a joint venture. Huawei's car manufacturing system will further grow this year, changing the landscape of this year's car market.
