VFACTS: Chinese brands continue to rise

For the month of July the overall market slid 2.8 per cent, with the year-to-date figure 7.7 per cent down on the first seven months of 2018.

However, SUV specialist Haval recorded a 164.2 per cent increase on July 2018 (albeit off a low base) to 140 registrations, while its YTD tally of 783 vehicles is up 155 per cent on the same period last year.

All the company's models bar the now-discontinued H8 showed decent growth, with the H2 up 162.1 per cent for the month (76 units), the H6 up 360 per cent (46 units), and the H9 up 63.6 per cent (18 units). All three model lines are well up year-to-date as well.

Meanwhile, Chinese-owned British marque MG continues to steamroll its way up the sales charts, posting 149.8 per cent growth for the month of July, and is up 253 per cent YTD as of July 31.

Key drivers for the brand are its increasingly popular ZS crossover (284 units, up 51.9 per cent in July) and the updated MG3 light hatch (above) – which is more than 999 per cent up both for July and YTD with 392 units for the month and 2043 registrations to July 31.

Elsewhere, Haval's parent Great Wall posted triple-digit growth, with 120 Steeds finding homes (4x2 and 4x4) in July, an increase of 118.2 per cent on the same month in 2018. Year to date, the Chinese ute brand is up 101.5 per cent (788 units).

Finally there's LDV, part of the SAIC Motor group alongside MG, which posted a more modest boost of 15.5 per cent for the month (590 units) off the back of increased sales of the D90 SUV (26 units, up 52.9 per cent) and T60 ute (335 units, up 23.1 per cent).

Imports from China were up 72.4 per cent for the month of July (1552 units), and are up 81.9 per cent year to date.

For the full breakdown of July's VFACTS sales data, click here.