On January 10 data released by the China Passenger Car Association CPCA show the top 10 best selling car companies in China for 2024. Cumulative retail sales from January to December 2024 for the passenger car market are reported as 22.892 million units, which is a moderate 5.5% increase over 2023 levels.
There is no surprise that BYD tops the table, but the top 5 now consists of 4 Chinese producers, up from 3 a year earlier. The total number of Chinese producers in the top 10 remains at 5, but there have been considerable changes.
| Position | Company | 2024 sales | Percentage change | Market Share |
| 1 | BYD | 3,718,281 | 37.4% | 16.2% |
| 2 | Geely | 1,773,251 | 28.0% | 7.7% |
| 3 | FAW Volkswagen | 1,608,578 | -12.9% | 7.0% |
| 4 | Changan | 1,365,745 | -0.6% | 6.0% |
| 5 | Chery | 1,355,205 | 64.6% | 5.8% |
| 6 | SAIC Volkswagen | 1,200,000 | -2.6% | 5.2% |
| 7 | SAIC-GM-Wuling | 824,681 | 14.0% | 3.6% |
| 8 | FAW Toyota | 798,087 | -0.5% | 3.5% |
| 9 | GAC Toyota | 770,147 | -14.5% | 3.4% |
| 10 | Tesla | 657,102 | 8.9% | 2.9% |
Following up BYD in second place is Geely which had a sales increase of 28.0% YOY. This, coupled with the decrease in sales for the year at FAW Volkswagen, led to them swapping places.
Changan remained in fourth place despite a 0.6% decline in sales. Rounding out the top 5 was Chery, which jumped from eighth place in 2023 thanks to a 64.6% rise in sales.
The only other Chinese brand in the top 10 was the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture, a new entrant at number 7, thanks to a 14% sales increase. Notably, Great Wall crashed out of the table, being replaced in the number 10 position by Tesla in 2024. As reported yesterday, Great Wall suffered a big decline in sales in China in 2024. Another notable exit was the SAIC General Motors JV, which suffered a crash in sales.
BYD has a 16.2% share of the Chinese market, meaning that one in every six cars sold is a BYD. Second place Geely has less than half that market share.
The top 5 companies control 42.7% of the market and the top 10 control 61.3%. The five Chinese companies in the Top 10 control 39.3% of the market.
Notably, Volkswagen if the two JVs are combined, would be in second place. Similarly, Toyota would be in fourth.
Sources: CPCA, Fast Technology
