In January, the top ten list saw a significant change. The champions of both the sedan/hatchback and SUV markets changed hands, both were claimed by a Geely model. BYD, which has dominated the list for many years, only had one model in the top ten of the sedan/hatchback and SUV sales rankings last month. Let’s take a closer look below.
For reference, China sold 1.794 million passenger vehicles in retails last month, a year-on-year decrease of 12.1% and a month-on-month decrease of 31.9%.
Sedan/hatchback ranking
| Ranking | Sedan/hatchback | January sales |
| 1 | Geely Geome Xingyuan | 28,146 |
| 2 | Volkswagen Sagitar | 25,745 |
| 3 | Volkswagen Passat | 25,411 |
| 4 | Wuling Hongguang Mini EV | 24,924 |
| 5 | Nissan Sylphy | 23,959 |
| 6 | Volkswagen Lavida | 23,863 |
| 7 | Geely Preface | 23,294 |
| 8 | Xiaomi SU7 | 22,897 |
| 9 | Audi A6L | 19,710 |
| 10 | BYD Seagull | 18,171 |
The sedan/hatchback market was topped by the Geely Geome Xingyuan with 28,146 units sold. Since its launch, the Xingyuan was marketed as “at the price of the BYD Seagull but at the level of the BYD Dolphin”. On the contrary, BYD only has the Seagull that made it into the top ten list.
SUV Ranking
| Ranking | SUV | January sales |
| 1 | Geely Xingyue L | 29,434 |
| 2 | Tesla Model Y | 25,694 |
| 3 | Changan CS75 Plus | 23,493 |
| 4 | Geely Boyue L | 21,839 |
| 5 | Geely Galaxy Starship 7 EM-i | 20,328 |
| 6 | Chery Tiggo 8 | 19,949 |
| 7 | Toyota Frontlander | 17,242 |
| 8 | Volkswagen Tiguan L | 16,865 |
| 9 | Honda CR-V | 16,076 |
| 10 | BYD Song Pro DM | 15,698 |
In the SUV segment, the highlight was the Geely Xingyue L taking the top-selling SUV spot for the first time with a sales volume of nearly 30,000 units, up 6.8% from the previous month. The Xingyue L’s previous high was third. The Tesla Model Y came in second, which was down 58.5% from December. It was the best-selling SUV for 11 months last year and only ranked third even in its worst month.
MPV Ranking
| Ranking | MPV | January sales |
| 1 | BYD Denza D9 DM | 9,525 |
| 2 | Toyota Sienna | 6,786 |
| 3 | Buick GL8 | 5,980 |
| 4 | Voyah Dreamer PHEV | 5,796 |
| 5 | Wuling Zhengcheng | 5,424 |
| 6 | Toyota Granvia | 5,195 |
| 7 | GAC Trumpchi M8 | 4,991 |
| 8 | BYD Xia | 2,794 |
| 9 | Arcfox Kaola | 2,431 |
| 10 | Wuling Kaijie Victory | 2,333 |
The BYD Denza D9 DM was the best-selling SUV, with 9,525 units sold, up 1.2% from the previous month. The car was ranked in the top three every month in the first three quarters of 2024 together with the Toyota Sienna and Buick GL8. In China, these three models are known as the “Three Musketeers of Nanny Cars”. On the other hand, the Toyota Sienna, although in second place, its sales number was down 9.1% from the previous month. The Buick GL8 had an even larger decrease, down 32.7% month-on-month.
Source: 163, Dongchedi, Autohome
