Luxury car sales slump amid faster expansion in China with buyers becoming rational

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 1) – The once soaring Chinese luxury car sales has completely lost steam in its growth, with Audi experiencing its first sale slide in May since February 2013. And many luxury car makers’ fast business expanding in China failed to put a break on the sales slid.

According to the statistics of China Passenger Car Association, the sales growth of passenger cars in China for the first five months of 2015 continued to slow down, which affected the sales of luxury cars. For example, Audi sold 48,174 units in China in May, a 1.6% decrease on a year-on-year basis. And BMW’s delivery sales in May in China were 34,870 units, falling 5.5% compared with the same period of last year, the first sales slide in a decade. While, JLR’s sales in May in China slumped by 32.1% from 10,880 units of last year to 7,389 units.

Some insiders believed that the luxury cars sales were previously promoted by its fast expanding. In 2013, Bentley increased another 15 Chinese dealers, andRolls Royce added 7 more Chinese dealers. Besides, Porsche increased its overall PorscheCenters in China to 53 ones. But, now this fast expansion failed to promote the sales.

According to the sales of the eight luxury brands including Audi, BMW,Jaguar, Land Rover, Benz, Porsche, Cadillac and Infiniti, the Chinese consumers become more rational in purchasing luxury cars, transferring their focus from car image to car function. The traditional luxury car brand, like Audi, BMW,Jaguar, Land Rover, who took up a small share in American car market, had enjoyed an unusual sales growth in China. But their recent sales slid reflected the change in consumption concept of Chinese luxury car buyers. While those well-configured luxury car brands, covering Benz, Porsche, Cadillac and Infiniti, has increased in sales in May, further reflecting the intelligent consumption concept of Chinese luxury car buyers and the maturing of Chinese luxury car market.