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According to data from the Federation of passengers, sales of narrow passenger cars in China increased by 372.9% in February 2021 compared with the same period last year, of which sales in the luxury market increased by 574.8%. It is not difficult to see that the growth rate of the luxury car market is much higher than the market level, once again continuing the hot sales of luxury cars in the market last year.

Recently, the China Automotive Center released the February luxury brand sales ranking, which counts the top 15 luxury car brands by sales. Overall, BMW-Benz Audi occupies the top three positions, Tesla, as a car-building brand, has become a rookie of second-tier luxury brands, and Red Flag has become the only Chinese brand with more than 10,000 sales, while sales of Infiniti, MINI, Jaguar and other brands remain in the doldrums, and Acura has fallen out of the top 15.

As a first-tier luxury brand, BMW Mercedes-Benz Audi still leads the luxury market. Figures show that the BMW brand sold 49222 vehicles in February, Mercedes-Benz 48163 and Audi 42353, with all three brands selling more than 40, 000. In terms of models, the more than 10,000 models in February were Audi Q5L (12535), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (11000) and Audi A6L (10792), BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class 9972 and 9732 respectively.

According to second-tier luxury brands, Tesla, Lexus, Cadillac and Red Flag all sold more than 10, 000 vehicles. Tesla sold 18155 vehicles in February, ahead of 3257 Lexus, which ranked second. At present, Tesla has two domestic models, Model 3 and Model Y, which are important sources to maintain the overall sales trend, of which 13688 are Model 3.

There is little difference in sales among Lexus, Cadillac and Red Flag, with Lexus 14898, Cadillac 13449 and Red Flag 12989.

As a luxury brand that relies only on imports, Lexus has once again topped the second-tier traditional luxury car market. Lexus continues to lay out in the market, and its products are becoming more and more perfect, from cars, SUV to MPV, from compact, medium to medium-sized. At present, Lexus has many models in China, such as ES, RX, UX, NX and so on. Although Lexus is introduced as an import, its sales volume continues to occupy the head, and it may not be important for Lexus to achieve domestic production.

It is precisely because of the squeeze of Lexus that Cadillac seems to be under a lot of pressure, continuing to compete with Lexus through price-for-volume, with discounts of more than 20% for many of its models. Price reduction can indeed lead to sales growth in the short term, but in the long run it will lead to serious brand premium, market price chaos, low second-hand residual value and decreased brand loyalty. From the current point of view, the negative impact of Cadillac "price for quantity" has gradually emerged.

Red Flag is the only independent luxury brand with more than 10,000 sales. The sinking positioning, gradual enrichment of products and continued marketing efforts have led to high growth in sales of the Red Flag Brand. At present, Red Flag mainly relies on the volume of H5 and HS5 models, with sales of 3117 and 6499 respectively in February. Red Flag H9 Red Flag E-HS9 exists more as a high-end brand image.

Volvo's current situation is very similar to that of Cadillac, which maintains market sales through substantial end-market discounts, selling 9729 vehicles in February. Some time ago, Volvo released the latest global sustainable development strategic goal, pure electric accounted for 50% in 2025, the rest are hybrid models. By 2030, Volvo will phase out all car products, including hybrid models. In other words, Volvo will become a pure electricity brand in 10 years.

Volvo is the first luxury brand to develop electrification, but its current sales of electric vehicles are not optimistic. Volvo sold 89 XC60 PHEV vehicles in February and 45 Volvo S90 PHEV vehicles.

Let's take a look at the remaining brands. Because the products currently on sale cost more than 300000 yuan, it is also defined as one of the luxury brands, making it the second Chinese brand to enter the top 10, with sales of 5739 vehicles in February. Although Land Rover is in the top 10, it sells less than 5000 vehicles, or 4831. As a British luxury brand, the current development of Land Rover is not ideal.

Porsche, like Lexus, has no domestic plans on the grounds that German manufacturing can maintain the premium power of Porsche brands. It also said it would not hesitate to pay higher labour costs for the prestige of German manufacturing. The brand sold 3981 vehicles in China in February, mainly from Macan models.

Lincoln's sales rose sharply after the adventurer and pilot models were launched last year, but Lincoln's sales fell by about half as a result of the Lunar New year holiday in February.

Jaguar, a luxury brand also from the UK, is not optimistic, selling only 1677 vehicles in February. Based on this, the Jaguar brand plans to stop producing fuel cars by 2025, meaning that the Jaguar brand will become a pure electric brand by 2025, which is more aggressive than Volvo.

In addition, Infiniti, a luxury brand owned by Nissan, sold just 963 vehicles in February, which is on the edge of the market. The same encounter from Honda's luxury brand Acura, whose sales were unknown in February, has fallen out of the top 15.

Generally speaking, under the influence of the stock competition in the domestic market, the brand camp in the luxury car market is basically formed. BMW Mercedes-Benz Audi is a first-tier luxury brand, Lexus, Cadillac, Red Flag and Volvo are second-tier luxury brands, accelerating product and technology competition, Lincoln and Wei to maintain steady sales growth. Jaguar, Infiniti, Acura and other brands remain in the doldrums and are on the edge of the market.

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