- The Buick Excelle was China's best-selling passenger-car in 2011.
- The Chevrolet Cruze was number three and the Ford Focus number 10.
- Volkswagen placed four cars in the top 10 last year.
BEIJING — General Motors and Ford captured four spots among China's best-selling passenger cars in 2011, with the Buick Excelle commanding top spot with sales of 253,514 units.
The performance is even more remarkable considering that the entire Buick brand sold only 177,633 units last year in the United States, where Buick is just launching a version of the Excelle sedan, rebadged as the Verano.
The Chevrolet Cruze was another popular model in China, with sales last year of 221,196 propelling it into 3rd place. The Chevrolet New Sail ranked 7th, with sales of 197,874, while the Ford Focus moved into 10th place, with sales of 188,961.
Volkswagen placed four cars in China's top 10 last year, including the Lavida, Jetta, Bora and Santana. The remaining slots were occupied by the Hyundai Elantra and the FAW Xiali — the only Chinese domestic brand to crack the top 10.
The BYD F3, which had been the country's best-seller the previous two years, tumbled to 11th place, as sales plunged 30 percent to 183,832.
Inside Line says: Buick's popularity continues to soar in China.
Add A Comment »
woochifer says:
06:03 PM, 01/26/2012
@openeyes1
What experts are claiming that hatchbacks don't sell? Anyone looking at sales charts will see that hatchbacks sell quite well ... outside of the United States.
lotusboy says:
08:16 AM, 01/26/2012
@peugeot : Thank you. Your correction is absoutely right.
openeyes1 says:
07:25 PM, 01/25/2012
The best selling Buick in the world is a Hatchback? Guess all those so-called experts out there who claimed that hatchbacks don't sell, need to wake up and smell the coffee.
peugeot says:
04:44 PM, 01/25/2012
In fact Verano was called Buick Excelle XT in China. The top selling Excelle in China is actually the refreshed First-Generation Daewoo Lacetti (predecessor of Cruze) (was the Suzuki Forenza in US). The Excelle above is called Excelle GT. There are 3 Excelles in China - Excelle sedan, Excelle XT(Buick Verano) and Excelle GT(Opel Astra hatch). Referring to the bestsellingcarsblog, a total of 253,514 Excelle (Daewoo Lacetti / Suzuki Forenza) was sold compared to 134,880 Excelle GT+XT (Verano+Astra Hatch).
http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2012/01/15/china-full-year-2011-buick-excelle-best-seller-after-4-years-at-2/
vinnieontherun says:
12:59 PM, 01/25/2012
has anyone notice that this is another European Opel wearing a Buick badge. In this case, the new 5 door hatch Opel Astra.
yellowperil says:
09:07 AM, 01/25/2012
btrdayz says:
08:29 AM, 01/25/2012
"I wish the Chinese Emperor had been given a Pontiac GTO instead."
--LOL!! Nominate for best comment.
gtrguy2012 says:
08:49 AM, 01/25/2012
illoxyill says:
07:43 AM, 01/25/2012
"The Chinese have good taste."
HAHAHAHA! Nothing could be further from the truth. NOTHING.
btrdayz says:
08:29 AM, 01/25/2012
I wish the Chinese Emperor had been given a Pontiac GTO instead.
poorjoe says:
07:57 AM, 01/25/2012
Is it just me or is "Excelle" a much better name than "Verano?"
illoxyill says:
07:43 AM, 01/25/2012
The Chinese have good taste.