Chinese sales performances of luxury automobile manufacturers in 2016 H1

BMW and Mercedes-Benz are still competing for second spot for the luxury automobile market in China. Although Mercedes-Benz’s sales actually surpassed BMW in May, they were unable to catch up to them in terms of total sales for the first half of 2016. Neither Mercedes-Benz nor BMW were able to catch up with Audi, which leads the country’s luxury automobile market.

Among the second tier of luxury automobile manufacturers, Lexus’ sales increased the greatest, growing 27% year-on-year and surpassing both Volvo and Cadillac. However, even they were exceeded by Jaguar Land Rover, which also achieved double digits sales growth and rose to the forefront of the second tier of the market.

1. Audi (2016 H1 sales: 288,908)

As its largest market, Audi’s has benefited from very stable sales growth in China. A total of 51,008 Audis were sold in China (including Hong Kong) in the month of June, 6.6% higher than 47,831 vehicles sold in the previous June.

A total of 30.44% of Audi’s sales for the first half of this year come from the Chinese market. In the first half of this year Audi sold 290,117 vehicles in China, 5.4% more than the 273,852 vehicles sold in the first half of 2015.

Chinese sales of Audi’s top two models, the A3 compact sedan and Q3 SUV, totaled 81,083 units, up 21.7% year-on-year.

FAW-Audi sold a total of 288,908 Audi vehicles in the Chinese mainland, representing year-on-year growth of 6.9%. Sales of Chinese-built Audis totaled 265,710 units, representing year-on-year growth of 9.0% and accounting for 92.0% of all Audis sold in the country.

2. BMW (2016 H1 sales: 232,997)

BMW sold a total of 1.16 million automobiles worldwide over the first half of the year. That figure represents year-on-year growth of 5.8%. The majority of those sales, 986,557 units, were of BMW models. By comparison sales of Minis and Skodas totaled 174,898 units and 1,684 units, respectively.

BMW and Mini sales in China totaled 247,644 units, which accounted for 21.3% of its global sales volume. That figure represents year-on-year growth of 7.4%. Chinese sales of the BMW 3 Series have grown 17.9% over the first half of the year, while sales of the 4 Series increased 4.2%.

3. Mercedes-Benz (2016 H1 sales: 215,257)

Mercedes-Benz’s Chinese sales over the first half of the year totaled 215,257 units, representing year-on-year growth of 34.0%. Mercedes-Benz’s sales have continued to grow consecutively for the last 40 months. Mercedes-Benz has benefited greatly from the Chinese introduction of the Smart brand.

4. Jaguar Land Rover (2016 H1 sales: 53,156)

Jaguar Land Rover’s sales in China totaled 7,261 in the month of June, up 18.6% from the 6,121 units sold in June 2015. 4,011 of those sales came from the Chery Jaguar Land Rover JV, representing year-on-year growth of 55.2%.

A total of 53,156 Jaguar Land Rover vehicles were sold in China in the first month of the year, up 18.7% from 44,781 units sold a year ago.

5. Lexus (2016 H1 sales: 46,179)

Lexus sold a total of 46,179 vehicles in China in the first half of the year, representing year-on-year growth of 27.0%, far above the market average growth rate of 10.0% and marking a new record high for the manufacturer. Due to earthquakes in Japan disrupting production of Lexus vehicles, that figure looks like it will continue to grow over the rest of the year.

Lexus has benefited from SUV sales in China, which include 24 models covering 16 series. Among them, sales of the NX, ES and RX totaled 14,627 units, 19,972 units and 11,033 units, respectively.

6. Cadillac (2016 H1 sales: 45,818)

Cadillac’s sales in June totaled 9,552, representing year-on-year growth of 34.0%. Monthly sales of the ATS-L, XTS and XT5 all exceeded 2,000 units. This is especially commendable as the XT5 has only been on the market for two months so far.

Cadillac sold a total of 45,818 vehicles in the first half of this year, up 16.1% from the 39,444 units sold the previous year. Prospects look for Cadillac as the Chinese launch of the CT6 plug-in electric hybrid is impending.

7. Volvo (2016 H1 sales: 40,688)

Volvo sold a total of 7,727 vehicles in June, up 6.1% from the 7,282 units sold the previous year. The Chinese market has actually slipped behind the American market to become Volvo’s second largest market.

8. Porsche (2016 H1 sales: 30,440)

China is still Porsche’s largest single market, accounting for 30,440 of its sales in the first half of the month, compared to 26,708 vehicles sold in the US. That figure represents year-on-year growth of 4.0%.

9. Infiniti (2016 H1 sales: 18,603)

A total of 3,706 Infinitis were sold in China, representing year-on-year growth of 12.3%. Infiniti’s two most popular models, the Q50L and QX50, managing to achieve combined sales of 11,887 units. These two models accounted for 64.0% of all of Infiniti’s sales in the country.

10. Lincoln (2016 H1 sales: 12,450)

Lincoln continue to see stable sales growth in the Chinese market. The brand’s sales have increased from 11,630 units sold over the whole of 2015 to 12,450 units sold in just the first six months of this year. Sales of the MKC, MKX and Navigator continue to be very commendable, with their combined sales volume growing 27.0% year-on-year.