Gasgoo.com (Shanghai October 19) - The slump domestic Chinese brands are in is becoming more and more evident, as sales of foreign Japanese brands continue to recover. The most recent statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reveal that domestic brands have not made the top 10 charts for automobile sales from July to September, Economic Observer News reported today.

The Buick Excelle (pictured) headed the CAAM rankings for September, selling 28,000 units. It was followed by the VW Lavida (23,900 sold), Chevrolet Cruze (23,200), Chevrolet New Sail (21,000), VW New Bora (20,200), VW Jetta (19,800), Hyundai Elantra Yuedong (18,800), VW Polo (17,700), Ford Focus (16,400) and Nissan Sunny (16,100). Eight of the ten spots on the chart were held by vehicles from SAIC's two foreign joint ventures: Shanghai GM and Shanghai VW.

The last time domestic brands placed in the charts was June, when the BYD F3 and Great Wall Voleex C30, selling 15,500 and 14,600 units, took ninth and tenth places, respectively. They were later replaced with the FAW Toyota Corolla, Guangqi Toyota Camry, Dongfeng Nissan Sunny and Beijing Hyundai Elantra Yuedong. The resurgence of Japanese models on the lists is due to recovering production in the country's automobile industry following the natural disasters earlier this year. The phenomenon is not limited to China, with sales of Japanese brands rising again in other markets around the world.