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With Lexus' sales hitting record highs in recent years, the Chinese market grew by 25% last year, making it the largest growing luxury brand in the Chinese market. But at the beginning of the new year, Lexus also became one of the brands that could not turn things around.

Although March has arrived, Lexus has yet to report its January sales, only to learn from Toyota's global sales data that its global sales in January were 53000 vehicles, down 0.3 per cent from a year earlier. In the past, when Lexus achieved sales growth, especially the upsurge in the Chinese market, Lexus had already "reported good news" early, but in the face of the decline, Lexus did not mention the specific sales in the Chinese market. Perhaps in Lexus's view, "it was just an accident."

Reporting the good news without reporting the bad news has become one of the propaganda methods of automobile companies at present. North America contributed 21000 vehicles, up 12.5 per cent from a year earlier, while the Asian market showed the biggest decline, falling 14.7 per cent to 16000, according to Lexus regional sales data released by Toyota. It is worth noting that the Lexus market in China is not only in China, but also in Japan, India and South Korea. Subtracting this part of the market means that Lexus sold even less in China in January.

Although Lexus sold only 500-600 cars in India in 2019, accounting for a tiny market share of 1-2%. While the South Korean market will be affected by the Japanese action, sales will also decline. According to the data, the Japanese market for Lexus in January this year was 4797, that is, in January this year, the Lexus market in China was only about 10, 000; in January last year, Lexus sold 14403 in China, which means that Lexus has seen a sharp decline in China this year.

Under the dual influence of the epidemic and the Spring Festival in January this year, the sales of many car companies declined, but the luxury market still showed a trend of growth. Passenger car sales fell by less than 20 per cent in January, while the luxury car market grew 4.1 per cent to 212400, suggesting that Lexus underperformed the Chinese luxury market in January, according to the federation of passengers. In addition, according to Audi brand sales in China, sales totaled 64000 vehicles in January, up 0.2 per cent from a year earlier.

Although Mercedes-Benz and BMW brands did not disclose production and sales figures, BMW Group CFO Peter said in an interview with foreign media: "We got off to a good start in January and sales in China have increased." Comprehensive sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in Beijing rose 18.8% in January from a year earlier, according to data disclosed by the Federation of passengers.

Second-tier luxury brands, by contrast, collapsed almost across the board in January, including Cadillac and Volvo. Cadillac sold 19600 vehicles in January, compared with 26801 in the same period last year, down 27% from a year earlier, while Volvo's sales in China totaled 10015, down 16.2% from a year earlier, making it the region with the biggest decline in Volvo sales.

Throughout the luxury market sales in January this year, there is a clear differentiation between first-and second-tier luxury brands, which also reflects that first-tier luxury has a more market than second-tier luxury in the Spring Festival, and even the "high-ranking" Lexus has failed to reverse growth. The continued impact of the epidemic in February will have a huge impact on the entire car market, including first-tier luxury brands, and perhaps Lexus is not an accident this time.

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