AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/18 Report--

This year, the domestic passenger car market as a whole showed a downward trend, and even suffered the first negative growth in 28 years, which made many car companies complain incessantly. According to data from the Federation of passengers, sales in the domestic narrow passenger car market were 1.564 million, down 9.9% from the same period last year. The cumulative sales from January to August reached 13.001 million, down 8.9% from the same period last year. But on the contrary, sales have risen to varying degrees throughout the luxury market.

At present, the polarization of the car market is very serious, the growth of entry-level models is weak, but luxury brands are still rising rapidly, and many car companies are showing a double-digit upward trend. Among the luxury brands that have reported August sales so far, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Lexus, Volvo and Infiniti have all maintained year-on-year increases in sales in the first eight months. The cumulative sales of the top ten luxury brands have reached about 1.85 million.

The data show that Mercedes-Benz, which ranks first, is very close to BMW, which ranks second in sales, while there is a gap of 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles between them and Audi, which ranks third in sales. BMW maintains double-digit growth rates, both monthly and annual, and is expected to continue to compete with Mercedes-Benz, while FAW-Volkswagen Audi is slightly inferior, with sales of 58600 vehicles, up 2 per cent from a year earlier.

However, according to this calculation, the three BBA companies are likely to reach nearly 700000 years of sales this year, and there will be brands that exceed 700000 years of sales.

Specifically, Mercedes-Benz's total sales this year reached 471000, up 3 per cent from a year earlier. It is worth mentioning that sales of 350000 vehicles in the first half of this year, an increase of only 1% over the same period last year, was once overtaken by BMW. Obviously, the previous "throttle" incident in Xi'an and vehicles including Class C and E also caused hidden dangers such as the fracture failure of shock absorbers, resulting in a large-scale recall involving 570000 vehicles. Let Mercedes-Benz decline in sales. However, after a rebound in July and August, cumulative sales in the first eight months once again overtook BMW.

BMW has had a strong sales performance this year, delivering a total of 46.3 vehicles (including the MINI brand) in the Chinese market from January to August, up 15.7 per cent from a year earlier. Among them, monthly sales in August were 5.9 vehicles, an increase of 10.1% over the same period last year. In terms of new energy models, the cumulative delivery volume from January to August this year increased by 45% compared with the same period last year. Among them, the plug-in hybrid model of the new BMW 5-Series is firmly in the "top spot" in this market segment.

But compared with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Audi, once the top seller in China, seems to be lagging behind this year. In the first eight months, Audi sold 427000 vehicles in China, up 2.4% from a year earlier, temporarily ranking third in the luxury car market. The main reason is that Audi's main models are concentrated on replacement, and the growth rate has slowed down significantly. But in the second half of the year, Audi will also accelerate the introduction of new models such as Q8 and e-tron, so Audi's sales performance is expected to further improve in the second half of the year.

After the top three of luxury cars, Lexus and Cadillac are vying for fourth place. From January to August, Cadillac sold more than 140000 vehicles, up 2 per cent from a year earlier, followed by Lexus, which sold 127000 vehicles in the same period, a year-on-year growth rate of 24.9 per cent. The gap between the two is gradually narrowing.

In addition, Volvo and Infiniti, both second-tier luxury brands, also have a strong performance. Infiniti sold 3280 vehicles in August, up 55.8 per cent from a year earlier. Infiniti sold 19800 vehicles in January-August, up 25.9 per cent from a year earlier. Analysts believe that one of the reasons for the rise in Infiniti sales is that the domestic model QX50 was launched in June last year, prompting its sales to soar.

Volvo sold 14000 vehicles in China in August, up 24.8% from a year earlier. From January to August, Volvo sold 95000 vehicles in China, up 14% from a year earlier. Among them, the XC60 and S90 cars perform well, but the discounts of the two cars are also very big.

Of course, there are also some car companies showing the opposite performance, such as the long-term poor performance of the two brands Acura and DS. Public statistics show that DS sold 1800 vehicles in the first seven months of this year, while Acura's domestic model TLX-L sold just over 900 vehicles in the first seven months of this year.

On the whole, the car companies have performed well this year, rising year-on-year one after another, which also proves that the purchasing power of the domestic market is increasing, especially in the middle and high-end car market. With the gradual recovery of terminal retail in late August, coupled with the seasonal effect of "Golden Nine and Silver Ten", it will further stimulate the enthusiasm of automobile consumption.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat