While Hawtai Motors may have gone too far with it (see our report), the practice of overstating sales is widespread and long-established among automakers in China, according to industry insiders. And it is not limited to third-tier, emerging players. On Thursday, Shanghai Securities News reveals that the joint venture of BAIC and Hyundai, the fourth largest passenger car maker in China in 2010, inflated the sales numbers of the newly released Sonata YF in an ill-conceived marketing campaign to compete with segment leaders like Nissan Teana, VW Passat, and Toyota Camry.

The Sonata YF, called the eighth generation Sonata in China (and the six generation in South Korea and the US), hit the market in early April. In May, Beijing Hyundai told the media and China Association of Automobile Manufacturers that sales of the model topped 6,000 in the first month. However, according to reliable sources from within and outside the company, no more than 3,000 units were delivered in that period, and the number of actual registrations fell between 2,000 and 3,000.

The lower counts seem in accordance with latest data from China Passenger Car Association, which show 530 deliveries of the Sonata YF in the first ten days of June, and to explain well why big discounts, up to 30,000 Yuan, are being offered on the Sonata just two months after its release.

So far no response has been heard from Beijing Hyundai.

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