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With the announcement of sales results by major companies, the sales ranking of major luxury brands in China in 2019 has also been officially released. Judging from the ranking, BMW Group won the championship with 723680 vehicles, an increase of 13.1% over the same period last year, and with Mercedes-Benz in second place, annual sales exceeded the 700000 mark for the first time. Cadillac declined, with Lexus growing the most, and became the fifth luxury brand with sales of more than 200000 vehicles.

In 2019, the BMW Group (BMW and MINI) sold 723680 vehicles in China, up 13.1 per cent from a year earlier, including 67897 new cars in December, up 8 per cent from a year earlier. The sales figures released by BMW also allowed it to overtake Mercedes-Benz and Audi to become the No. 1 luxury brand in China in 2019.

The BMW 5-Series is the brand's top-selling model, and the domestic X3 further boosts sales. Brilliance BMW X3 went on sale in July 2018, and domestic X3 sales remained stable for a year and a half, reaching 120000 vehicles in 2019. The BMW 5-Series sells 173000 vehicles throughout the year, offering long axles, standard axles, plug-in hybrids and M models.

After the replacement of the new 3-series in 2019, initial sales declined due to price and production capacity problems. With increased terminal offers and rising production capacity, 3-series sales remained stable. At the Guangzhou Auto Show in November, BMW also launched the new 3-series 320,330 models with only 325 power configuration. At present, the price of the whole series is 29.39-409900 yuan, all equipped with 2.0T engines. The corresponding maximum output is 156 horsepower, 184 horsepower and 258 horsepower respectively. As for sales, the BMW 3-Series delivered 130000 vehicles throughout the year.

In 2019, the MINI brand sold 32678 vehicles in China, an increase of 11.3% over the same period last year.

Mercedes-Benz has also become another luxury brand to break the 700000 mark, with a gap of less than 20, 000 vehicles with BMW. In 2019, the Mercedes-Benz and smart brands delivered a total of 702088 new cars, an increase of 4 per cent over the same period last year, of which the Mercedes-Benz brand delivered 693443 new cars, an increase of 6.2 per cent over the same period last year.

In 2019, Mercedes-Benz had frequent quality recalls in China, as well as well-known consumer rights incidents, but it did not seem to have much impact on sales. In the case of broken shock absorbers alone, Mercedes-Benz recalled 670000 cars, including the E-Class and C-Class.

In the Chinese market, Mercedes-Benz has launched eight domestic passenger models, accounting for about 3/4 of the brand's overall sales in China. In 2019, Beijing Mercedes-Benz GLB is listed in China, positioning as a compact SUV, with a price range of 31.48-354800 yuan, equipped with the same 1.3T in-line four-cylinder engine and 7-speed double clutch gearbox as Mercedes-Benz A-class, further enriching the product layout. However, the domestic GLB was recalled after only one month on the market because the seat harness was not routed in accordance with the specifications, affecting the use of functions such as seat side airbags.

Audi entered 2019, its poor performance fell in the first half of the year, and continued efforts to achieve growth in the second half of the year. Audi's 2019 sales figures show that sales for the whole year were 690083, up 4.1% from a year earlier, ranking third.

In the first half of the year, the new A6L and Q3 went on the market respectively, and the sales volume was frustrated under the firm price, and gradually recovered with the increase of preferential treatment. Audi A4L sold 168000 vehicles in 2019, up 3% from a year earlier; Audi Q5L sold 139000 vehicles, up 17% from a year earlier; and Audi A8 reached 12500, up 21.6% from a year earlier. Audi plans to launch more than 20 products in 2020, including the mid-term revamped A4L, the new A6L, the new domestic car Q3 Sportback and so on.

Luxury car sales continued to grow, in sharp contrast to the decline in the overall car market, but at the same time luxury car prices also continue to decline, the terminal substantial profit concessions have become the norm. Among them, Lexus is doing the opposite. After all, there are not many brands selling cars at higher prices these days.

In 2019, Lexus sold 200521 vehicles in China, an increase of 25% over the same period last year, and became the fifth luxury brand to sell more than 200000 vehicles. Lexus sales are still lower than Cadillac, ranking second in second-tier luxury.

Lexus has launched 11 series and 18 models in China, with sales of ES, RX and NX as the main models, UX compact SUV in 2019 and LM high-end MPV in 2020.

Sales of Lexus rose in 2019, but the process was also "risky". In September, Lexus suddenly raised the official guidance price of ES, NX, UX and LS models by 6000 to 15000 yuan, which forced customers who had signed contracts to raise prices again, thus angering some customers, and the public opinion storm also led netizens to collectively scold Lexus for the sudden price increase.

On December 27th, the General Administration of Market Supervision issued a penalty decision on Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in December 2017. the former Jiangsu Provincial Price Bureau filed a case against Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in December 2017. Lexus dealers were restricted from online quotations, minimum resale prices, etc., which restricted market competition and harmed the interests of consumers, and was finally fined 87.6131 million yuan.

On the contrary, Cadillac and Volvo adopt the "price for quantity" approach. Sales of Cadillac reached 213717 in 2019, down 6.3% from a year earlier, and the gap with Lexus is getting smaller and smaller. The decline in Cadillac sales is mainly due to the suspension of production of ATS-L and XTS, while the replacement of CT5 and CT4 models have not been quickly replenished. Cadillac CT5 officially went on sale on November 18th, with a price of 27.97-339700 yuan, equipped with 2.0T variable cylinder turbocharged engine and 10-speed automatic gearbox. At the same time, CT4, the direct replacement of ATS, confirmed that the price will fall further in the first quarter of 2020, which will boost sales of the Cadillac brand.

Volvo sold 154559 vehicles for the year, up 18.4 per cent from a year earlier. With the intensification of market competition, Volvo has become a terminal price-driven brand, with significant price reductions in its S60, S90, XC60, XC90 and so on. At the end of December, the new S60 went on sale with a price of 28.69-461900 yuan, and the low price is almost the same as that of the terminal S90, so there is still more room for price reduction in the future in order to further boost sales recovery.

With regard to the luxury car "price for quantity" sales strategy, SAIC GM General Manager Wang Yongqing said that when the auto market is growing at a high speed, it is also useful for car companies to fight a price war in order to seize market share, but as consumers begin to return to rationality, brand concentration and loyalty are getting higher and higher, and customers' requirements for enterprises are getting higher and higher. in such a competitive environment, only price war is out of place.

Therefore, the role of "price for volume" in the luxury car market will be weakened in the future, Cadillac and Volvo need to seek new growth points, and the brand value effect of Lexus will pose a great threat to Cadillac's second-tier top position.

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