Shanghai (ZXZC)- In 2018, Nissan became the champion Japanese automaker by annual sales gaining a slight year-on-year (YoY) growth. Toyota achieved double-digit growth in both 2018 sales and December sales, boasting the most stable and vigorous increase. However, Mazda was not that lucky. It was the only one among four carmakers tabulated here who faced negative growth in both annual sales and December sales.

Nissan

Nissan' China sales showed a YoY decline of 4.4% in December, while its full-year sales still grew 2.9% over a year ago to 1,563,986 units, making Nissan the champion among all Japanese automakers in terms of their China sales in 2018.

Both PV unit and light CV unit achieved positive sales growth last year. The PV unit, including Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Venucia, sold 1,301,077 vehicles throughout 2018 with a YoY increase of 2.8%. Yet, the PV sales in December slid 6.9% compared with the same period a year ago.

Nissan's SUV sales in China edged up 3.3% YoY in December and climbed 15.2% for entire 2018. The Dec. sales of the Sylphy, the X-TRAIL, the Qashqai and the Murano all presented double-digit YoY growth with 60,833 units, 21,290 units, 17,577 units and 3,547 units sold respectively.

The sales mainstays for Dongfeng Venucia in December were the all-new Venucia D60, the T70 and the T90, whose respective sales amounted to 5,762 units, 2,987 units and 1,559 units.

The CV unit consisting of Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. and Zhengzhou Nissan sold a total of 216,969 vehicles in 2018 with a YoY growth of 5.4%. 

Toyota

The runner-up Toyota attained a YoY growth of 14.3% in full-year China sales. Unlike Nissan, who saw an evident gap between its yearly growth and monthly growth, Toyota's December sales in this country showed a YoY increase of 14.7%, basically the same as its annual change.

The blooming sales performance for Toyota should be attributed to the propulsion caused by such new models as the eighth-generation Camry, the C-HR and the IZOA and China's tariff slash that greatly boots Lexus's performance.

Both two joint ventures gained positive increase last year. GAC Toyota delivered 580,337 vehicles throughout 2018 with a YoY surge of 31.8%. FAW Toyota saw its 2018 sales edge up 2.0% to 720,306 units.

Premium car brand Lexus witnessed its annual sales in China jump 20.8%, for the first time exceeding 160,000 units. 

Honda

Honda's China sales in 2018 were 1,432,291 units, edging down 0.6% from the year-ago period. GAC Honda achieved a tiny YoY growth of 0.6% with 735,276 vehicles delivered from January to December, while Dongfeng Honda, with 697,015 vehicles handed over last year, encountered a YoY drop of 4.1%.

The Japanese automaker reaped a good end in 2018. Last month, Honda's China deliveries reached a new high of 191,907 units, leaping 33.8% from the previous year. GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda saw their Dec. sales significantly rose 26% and 40.6% respectively to 84,551 units and 107,356 units.

A total of 7 models, including the Civic, the XR-V, the CR-V, the Accord, the Vezel, the Fit and the Crider, all had respective sales exceeding 100,000 units on an annual basis. Especially, the Civic becomes Honda's first model whose full-year sales in China surpass 200,000 units.

Models featuring the SPORT HYBRID i-MMD (Intelligent Multi Mode Drive) are rather popular among Chinese consumers. For instance, the yearly sales of the CR-V HYBRID reached 26,360 units, making up around 20% of the CR-V's 2018 sales. 

Mazda

Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd. announced that its annual sales in 2018 declined 12% YoY to 272,322 units. Two Sino-Japanese joint ventures—FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda sold 108,970 units and 163,352 units throughout 2018, dropping 12.3% and 11.8% over a year ago. 

In December, the Japanese automaker's sales in China reached 20,546 units, slumping 37.8% over the previous year. According the sales data compiled by ZXZC, by the end of December, 2018, Mazda has suffered YoY drop in monthly sales for eight consecutive months in the world's largest auto market. However, thanks to the growing performance from January to April, the automaker's year-to-date (YTD) sales presented positive growth for first eight months in 2018. 

Nobuhiko Watabe, chairman of Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd., said that Mazda has seen its total sales in China exceed 3 million units. Meanwhile, the cumulative sales of Mazda's vehicle carrying SkyActive Technology surpassed 1 million units in May, 2018.