Are Chinese car brands losing ground in Chile?

The Chilean automobile industry is not experiencing its best moment. In 2023, they only managed to total 261,132 units, a decrease of 27.7% compared to the same period of 2022.

The numbers can be explained by a series of reasons. Economic conditions, international instability, dollar fluctuations, among them, all players have been affected by the decline in sales.

Chinese origin, leader in our country since 2019, has also suffered from the contraction in new vehicle registrations, although in any case it remains the country with the highest market share in the Chilean market, with brands that are looking to compete in less massive segments. and more premium.

To find out a little more about this origin, we carried out an analysis of what the current market offers.

In our market, according to the National Automobile Association of Chile, there are 71 brands present in our country, of which 28 are Chinese, this represents 39.4%. Now the big question arises: what are they? We will resolve this doubt for you immediately, since thanks to the report provided by Anac we have been able to identify all the Chinese brands present in our market and we will detail them below:

MG, Maxus, Chery, Changan, JAC, Great Wall, Haval, DFSK, Foton, Geely, Jetour, JMC, GAC, Baic, KYC, Karry, Exeed, ZNA, DFM, Kaiyi, ZXAuto, Maple, Dongfeng, BYD, Shineray , SWM, Leap Motor and Farizon (models sold under the Voltera name). It should be noted that Omoda and Jaecoo have not been taken into account, since they have not yet officially started marketing in our country.

With all these brands present in the national industry, How much do they represent in total sales?

So far in 2023, of the 261,132 units sold in these 10 months, 74,386 belong to Chinese brands, or 28.4%. If we analyze it a few seasons ago, the increase is very significant – in 2019 it was 14.5% – although if the point of comparison is 2022 there is a significant drop, since the year last year, 32.9% of total sales corresponded to Chinese automobile brands, not counting models from traditional manufacturers from China (such as Ford Territory or Kia Soluto for example).

Another detail that shows the loss of ground is visible in the top ten best-selling brands. If at the end of 2022 there were three brands among the 10 with the highest sales (Chery, MG and Changan), in October only MG remained in the group of 10 best sellers.

The Maxus T60 is the best-selling Chinese truck currently in our market and also the best-selling vehicle owned by a Chinese brand, with 5,714 units.

Second place once again goes to a pickup, with the Great Wall Poer 4,413 units. This is a leap forward for this model which finished last year in fourth place among Chinese brand vehicles.

The podium of the three best sellers is closed by the MG ZS with 3,811 units. This is the same position he closed with in 2022.

The official sponsor brand of the Chilean team, MG, is the one that currently leads the ranking, thanks to a wide portfolio in two key segments such as the passenger segment with the MG3, MG5, MG6, GT and, on the other hand , SUVs with the ZS, ZX, HS, One and RX5. Finally, it has not left electromobility aside with the Marvel R and the ZS.

Maxus is the second best-selling Chinese brand in our market with a strategy based on more commercial vehicles and which has brought very good results, in fact, it has gone from fourth place of Chinese origin to sub-leader.

Among the options available to Maxus are the T90, T60, Deliver 9 (cargo, passenger or school version), G10 (available in different versions D20, minibus and 9+1, ) and G90. Also your options for the electric variants of the eDeliver 3, eDeliver 9, Euniq 6 and T90 EV.

The top three is closed by Chery, a brand that was the best-selling Chinese brand last year. Currently, it only sells SUVs and offers different options in this segment, starting with the Tiggo 2, Tiggo 2 Pro, Tiggo 3, Tiggo 3 Pro, Tiggo 7, Tiggo 7 Pro, Tiggo 8 and Tiggo 8 Pro.

Below is the list of the 10 best-selling Chinese brands on our market:

1. MG: 9,695 units (3.7% market share)
2. Maxus: 8,238 units (3.2% market share)
3. Chery: 8,227 units (3.2% market share)
4. Changan: 7,455 units (2.9% market share)
5. JAC: 7,190 units (2.8% market share)
6. Great Wall: 6,745 units (2.6% market share)
7. Haval: 5,156 units (2.0% market share)
8. DFSK: 3,207 units (1.2% market share)
9. Foton: 2,790 units (1.1% market share)
10. Geely: 1,967 units (0.8% market share)