Toyota Topples GM as Second Best Selling Car Maker in China

According to the January-September China automobile sales figures, Toyota Motor outpaced its American rival General Motors as the second best selling car brand in the PRC, behind only Volkswagen. The success of the Japanese OEM is mainly attributed to its green tech push and the popularity of its Corolla model that helped the company reach an 8% increase in sales despite the overall slowdown in the Chinese car market. 

According to numbers reported by a research company LMC Automotive, Toyota was responsible for 7.8% of China’s new car sales during the first nine months of 2019, falling short of toppling Volkswagen as the market leader, but outpacing GM and the local automotive leader SAIC Motor.

It is also reported that China’s new car sales plummeted 10.3% year on year to 18.37 million units following a cut down in government subsidies for new energy vehicle producers. Most major OEMs active in China, including GM, SAIC Motor, and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group experienced a decline in sales, while the two largest Japanese car manufacturers Honda and Toyota managed to improve their sales figures compared to 2018 thanks to the popularity of the Civic and Corolla models with the younger Chinese generation.

Toyota is also aiming to capitalize on the Chinese push for sustainability in the automotive industry by introducing its first electric model. The UX 300e was debuted under Toyota’s premium subbranch Lexus at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, which opened on Friday, November 22.