Shanghai October 8 (Gasgoo.com) With rapid development of China's high-end vehicle market, emerging forces such as Japan's Toyota Lexus, Honda Acura and Nissan Infiniti have all joined the war in the luxury car segment in which three major German brands, the Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, hold over 90% of the market share.
The three premium brands from Germany are currently available in both imported and locally produced models in the Chinese market, while the three Japanese brands rely completely on import. Japanese cars are clearly inferior to German cars in whatever perspective. Disadvantages in model introduction, prices and tariffs make the difference between them even bigger.
It is reported that BMW sales in China more than doubled in the first half of this year, with 75,600 units sold. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz also saw its sales double to 59,600 units in the market, a year-on-year increase of 122%. Audi sales in China gained roughly 60% to 108,600 units.
Compared with the robust growth German cars reported in first half sales, Japanese cars seem facing a gloomy future in China. For instance, Toyota aims to sell 50,000 Lexus cars in the country this year. Six months later, Lexus car sales doubled to more than 20,000 units. Nissan set a sales target of 10,000 Infiniti cars for 2010 and after only five months, the brand already posted a year-on-year growth of 132%, much higher than the 70% segment average. Honda Acura sales jumped 135% in China in the same period, with an annual sales target of 6,000 units.
In terms of product line-up, Japanese cars are also lagging behind the competition. Chinese automakers are inclined to set their sights on small cars; Toyota Lexus sold in China are, however, mainly large displacement vehicles, with relatively higher prices.
Given the limited marketing outlook, German automakers have lowered the threshold for better sales, Japanese automakers will have to take relevant measures to expand business in China.
