H1 2019 sales summary for mainstream premium car brands' China market

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)'s data showed that retail sales of China's locally-produced premium car brands, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Infiniti and Acura, totaled 193,848 units in June with a year-on-year jump of 24.9%. Additionally, year-to-date deliveries also climbed 8.6% to 1,046,788 units despite the 12th-month-in-a-row downturn for China's overall auto market.

Gasgoo hereby compiled sales data released by premium automakers and the CPCA. Although Lexus, Porsche and Lincoln was not included in the CPCA's data because they have no China-made models, we still added the three brands into the table since we trust their participation will offer more comprehensive instruction for users to understand the overall performance of premium car market.

BMW

Despite the various headwinds currently affecting the automotive industry, in June, BMW once again achieved increased sales in China, one of its biggest markets.

Except February, BMW gained double-digit year-on-year growth in monthly sales for the other five months during the first half of 2019.

Sales drivers should be the new BMW 5 Series and the 3 Series sedans, whose respective deliveries in June exceeded 75,000 units. Sedan sales are projected to further climb in the second half of the year fuel by the all-new BMW 3 Series which just hit the market in late June.

The German auto giant is ready to roll out a number of new models in the second half, including the 8 Series, the X3M and X4M, after launching such key models as the BMW X7, the new 7 Series and the all-new 3 Series during the past six months in China.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz increased its sales by 1.3% to a total of 344,657 units in China, the region's core market, in the first six months. Deliveries in June were slightly higher than in the prior-year month, with a total of 57,018 vehicles handed over to customers in the world’s biggest market (+0.1%).

Although Mercedes-Benz delivered fewer vehicles than that of Audi in June, it still outsold the German rival in terms of H1 sales.

Sales of such hotter-selling models as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class totaled 80,976 units and 76,980 units respectively for the first half of 2019, rising 2.9% and 9.9% year on year.

The Stuttgart-based company with the three-pointed star will reportedly launch several models in the second half of the year in China, including the mid-cycle refresh for the GLC L, the GLC Coupe and the GLB-Class as well as the EQC, the automaker’s first BEV model. 

Audi 

In China, Audi delivered 58,877 vehicles in June, equivalent to an increase of 22.2%.

The Audi A4 L (+11.7%) or the Audi Q5 L (+64.8%) were among the highly popular models. The long version of the Audi Q2, the city SUV developed specifically for China, proved highly successful with 3,806 units sold.

Since the start of the year, the brand with the four rings delivered 312,502 cars to customers in this country, an increase of 1.9%. As such, the company also closed the first half of the year with a new record-breaking figure, Audi said.

Cadillac

Among the so-called second-tier premium car models, Cadillac was the only one whose Jan.-Jun. sales exceeded 100,000 units.

In June, the brand sold 21,210 vehicles with a year-on-year surge of 51.5%. The XTS and the XT5, with 7,641 units and 4,584 units delivered, became the best sellers.

Last month, lots of car dealers were clearing their inventories of cars that don't meet the new stricter emission standard by offering discount to consumers. However, it generated little impact on Cadillac since some key models like the XT4 and CT6 had already satisfied the China Stage 6 Standard at the end of 2018. Besides, the XT5 also launched the new version fitting the new standard in June.

The locally-produced XT6 SUV is to hit the market on July 18 to take on the BMW X5 and the Audi Q7.

Lexus

Apart from Acura, Lexus boasted the biggest year-on-year growth in both June sales and H1 sales among the brands on the table.

In June, sales of Lexus in China were almost doubled over the year-ago period. Monthly sales of hybrid vehicles skyrocketed 181.3% from the previous year to 6,233 units, accounting for 34.3% of total June sales.

Lexus will release more growth points in China with the 7-seater RXL and the first MPV model LM to be introduced in the second half of the year.

Volvo Cars

Volvo Cars reported its highest ever first half year sales in China of 67,741 cars, up 10.2%, compared to the same period last year. Strong demand for the locally produced XC60 and the S90 models led the volume growth in the six month period.

In June too, Volvo announced its best ever sales for China in a single month with a total 13,238 cars sold, up 13.3%.

Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover reported a year-on-year drop of 12.3% in June retail sales for its China market, 14.1 percentage points lower than that of a month ago.

The automaker didn't release the year-to-date sales volume, while it should totaled 45,726 units based on the data previously collected by Gasgoo.

Porsche

Porsche said car deliveries in China for the first half of the year jumped 28% over a year earlier to 42,608 units, making China the biggest single market of the luxury brand whose year-to-date sales aggregated 133,484 units worldwide.

Most Porsche's models currently delivered on the China's market have already satisfied the China Stage 6 Emission Standard and the automaker will complete the transformation from the China 5 to the China 6 after the 718 Boxster and the 718 Cayman offer new versions that meet the new rule in early 2020, according to Dr. Jens Puttfarcken, CEO of Porsche China.

Lincoln

Second quarter Lincoln sales in China were 12,404 units, up 7% year on year, an increase of 28% compared to the first quarter, according to Ford China.

Along with the Q1 sales Ford announced before, its cumulative sales has aggregated 22,074 units for the first six months, climbing over 8% from the year-ago period.

The H1 sales of the all-new Lincoln Nautilus were increased by 29% year on year. The 2019 model continues to be especially popular with Chinese customers thanks to its more powerful twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V6 engine, new 8-speed transmission, impressive front design and premium interior.

Sales of the Lincoln Navigator luxury SUV maintained strong growth, with first half sales up by 68% compared with a year prior. Sales of the Lincoln MKZ luxury sedan also achieved a year-over-year increase of 6%.

Infiniti

Dongfeng Infiniti's sales in June fell 7% from the year-ago period, while still jumped 21.5% in terms of H1 sales.

The Nissan-owned premium brand achieved double-digit growth partly due to its relatively small quantity. From the time being, Infiniti only has two locally-produced models sold in China, the QX50 and the Q50L, which is much slower than other competitors in rolling out new models and upgrading existing products.