AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/22 Report--

The luxury car market continues to grow rapidly, and the sales of many brands have risen sharply and ushered in historical highs, which has become a major breakthrough in the automobile market this year. The demand for high-end cars brought about by consumer upgrading, as well as the increasing competition for luxury cars, have led to a continuous decline in prices, further expanding the consumer market covered by luxury cars. Retail sales in the luxury market totaled 2.5291 million vehicles in 2020, up 14.7 per cent from the same period last year, while the independent market and the mainstream joint venture market fell 12.1 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively, according to the Federation of passengers.

Prior to this, we counted the sales of the domestic first-tier luxury brand Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, and the sales of the three major brands all increased in China. The same is true of second-tier luxury brands, Cadillac, Lexus, Red Flag and other brands have also achieved growth, and better reflect the popularity of the luxury market.

Cadillac ended in decline.

Impulse sales grew strongly at the end of the year, with Cadillac surpassing Lexus for many months. Data show that Cadillac brand sales in 2020 totaled 230007 vehicles, an increase of 8.2% over the same period last year, more than 20, 000 vehicles ahead of Lexus, and successfully put an end to the decline.

On January 22nd, Lexus officially announced its annual sales, with a cumulative sales of 209738 vehicles in China in 2020, an increase of 12% over the same period last year, ranking second only to Cadillac and ranking second to second-tier luxury brands.

Cadillac and Lexus show two completely different trends of development. In the first half of 2020, Lexus sales continued to catch up with Cadillac, putting Cadillac under pressure. With the accelerated upgrading of the product line and terminal discounts, Cadillac has overtaken Lexus in sales for many months. Of course, there is no panic in the face of Cadillac surpassing Lexus. As a pure imported brand, Lexus can still achieve 200000 vehicles through price increase, which is obviously inferior to that of Cadillac.

Red Flag surpasses Volvo

According to official data, FAW Red Flag sold more than 200000 vehicles in 2020, successfully achieving its annual sales target. It is worth mentioning that FAW Red Flag did not release specific sales figures for 2020, so according to the sales of more than 100000 vehicles in 2019, FAW Red Flag grew by about 100% in 2020.

With the sinking of positioning, the gradual enrichment of products and the continuous development of marketing, the sales volume of Red Flag brand has ushered in high growth. In 2020, FAW Hongqi launched two heavyweight models, Red Flag H9 and Red Flag E-HS9, to further expand the product line. According to officials, Red Flag brand products will be expanded to 20 in the next 10 years, covering more market segments.

Although Volvo also grew in 2020, growth slowed significantly, with cumulative annual sales rising 7.6 per cent to 166300 vehicles. Helplessly, Volvo's sales were surpassed by its own brand Red Flag. Volvo's current domestic models include XC40, XC60, S60 and S90. relatively speaking, Volvo's product line is still not rich enough. Under the pressure of competition from Cadillac and Lexus, its terminal price is obviously "out of control" and has no choice but to maintain the overall level by means of price for quantity.

Lin Kenwei has greatly increased.

Lincoln, a luxury brand owned by Ford, its cumulative sales increased by 32.5% to 61761 vehicles in 2020 compared with the same period last year, which is the best sales performance of the Lincoln brand since its entry into China. Lincoln was able to achieve sales growth, mainly because it achieved localization in 2020, and the listing of domestic adventurers and pilots made its sales reach a new high, which also created conditions for the revival of the Lincoln brand under the continued hot influence of the luxury market. It is understood that the navigator, the third domestic model of the Lincoln brand, will be officially launched in the first quarter, and the price is lower than that of imported models.

As a new force in car building, NIO delivered a total of 43728 vehicles in 2020, an increase of 121 per cent over the same period last year. 2020 can be said to be an extraordinary year, in the context of a number of traditional car companies moving to the edge of the market, Lilai, which was almost delisted, has not been crushed, but has seen a substantial increase in sales and market capitalization. On January 9, 2021, Xilai released a new model with a pre-price of 44.8-506000 yuan before ET7 subsidy, and delivery of the new car will begin in the first quarter of 2022.

The market camp of second-tier luxury brands has been basically formed. Head brands Cadillac, Lexus, Red Flag and other fierce competition, while Lincoln and other luxury brands have achieved recovery, as for Infiniti, Acura and other brands are still not out of the predicament.

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