Although growth rates in the Chinese automobile market as a whole have slowed down significantly this year, two segments are still managing to post impressive figures. The first is the SUV segment, whose production and sales volume for the first three quarters represented year-on-year growth of 34.7 percent and 33.3 percent, respectively.
As impressive as the SUV segment's performance so far this year has been, China Passenger Car Association statistics show that minivan sales have been performing even stronger. According to the statistics, year-on-year growth rates for minivan production and sales volumes for the first three quarters of the year were an astounding 55.7 percent and 51.6 percent, respectively. By comparison, overall market year-on-year growth rates for the same time period were 11.3 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.
This astounding growth has attracted the attention of many major manufacturers. SAIC, Dongfeng, FAW and Changan have all released models to help capitalize on the popularity of the minivan craze. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), SAIC has sold a total of 670,700 minivans over the first nine months of the year, while Dongfeng has sold 267,100 minivans over the same time frame.
CAAM Deputy General Secretary Cui Dongshu attributes the growth in minivan sales to changing demands of Chinese families. Mr. Cui believes that the minivan segment possesses great growth potential for passenger automobile manufacturers.
