With the bells ringing in the Year of the Tiger, the auto industry is back to its former busyness after a difficult 2021. Although the global epidemic and chip shortage problem are still continuing, the continuous improvement of the Chinese market has also given many car companies a "reassuring pill". On February 15, the Association also announced a list of luxury car sales in January, in which the "German Tiantuan" composed of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi was still eye-catching, and many popular models re-entered the top ten of the list without suspense.
Audi's play remained steady, with BMW Mercedes in the top three
According to the latest news released by the Association, the BBA is still in the top six of the sales ranking in the past month, and its strength is comparable. Specifically, the BMW 5 Series ushered in the Spring Festival "opening red" with monthly sales of 26,092 units, an increase of 33.6% year-on-year, and it is also the model with the highest year-on-year growth among all the models on the list. At the same time, the strength of the 3 series as the younger brother is also very strong, contributing 24,396 units to BMW in January, an increase of 22.1% year-on-year.
On the Mercedes-Benz side, the classic E-Class sedan is still the "evergreen" in the luxury car market, although it is slightly inferior to the BMW 5 Series in terms of performance, but it also ranks third in the sales ranking with monthly sales of 21,020 units, a positive year-on-year growth of 4.6%.
However, from the product point of view, according to the latest news released by Mercedes-Benz, in 2022, the E-class car will also usher in a mid-term redesign product, and the new car 3 will be closer to the more high-end S-class sedan in appearance and interior. On the other hand, as a supplement to the Mercedes-Benz E series, EQE will also open a localization process this year, and the new car is expected to be released in 2022, and pure electric travel may be the main product direction of Mercedes-Benz in the future.
However, some people are happy and some are sad, while Mercedes-Benz E-Class sales are good, the C-class car has ushered in a certain degree of decline. From the statistics of the association, it is not difficult to see that the sales volume of the C-class in January was 10,273 units, ranking sixth. Although monthly sales still exceeded 10,000, it fell by 45.9% year-on-year, which is the most serious year-on-year sales decline of all models on the list. The 2022 C-class sedan currently on sale has also been affected by the chip shortage storm, and the wireless charging of mobile phones and intelligent human-computer interaction systems have been changed to optional, and the overall product strength is far less than before.
Finally, on the Audi side, the A4 and A6 "two brothers" played steadily, ranking fourth and fifth with monthly sales of 16,839 units and 13,067 units. However, affected by the current "chip shortage", the production capacity of popular models such as the Audi A4L is still tight, and the pick-up time has been extended to about 3 to 4 months.
Hongqi H9 broke into the top ten, once again leading the second-tier luxury brands
The most eye-catching in the january luxury car sales list is nothing more than Hongqi H9 from domestic brands, ranking seventh with a monthly sales of 3,089 units, and this is also H9's top ten sales list for many consecutive months, "side by side" with first-line luxury brands such as BBA.
It is understood that at the beginning of the listing of the Hongqi H9 in 2020, it will target mainstream luxury cars such as audi A6L, and under the design concept of "Shang Zhi Yi", it will show a unique and dignified "Chinese-style" luxury aesthetic. In order to consolidate its product position in the luxury market, Hongqi has also launched H9 Forbidden City Theme Edition, Magnolia Limited Edition and other extended models in 2021, which not only lengthen the wheelbase, but also create a more high-end driving experience for important occupants in the car.
Finally, in the camp of second-tier luxury brands, in addition to the Hongqi H9, volvo S90 ranked eighth with a single month sales of 2,886 units; Cadillac CT6 single-month sales were only 1,470 units, down 33% year-on-year. To this end, some insiders also analyzed that the current foreign second-tier luxury brands will be more affected by the shortage of chips, because they do not have a strong reputation like BBA to resist the crisis, nor are they supported by state-owned enterprises such as FAW like Hongqi, and it is also an inevitable phenomenon that sales continue to decline after 2022.
Auto Network Review: The luxury car market is still the world of BBA
Judging from the January sales released by the association, the "BBA" lineup composed of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi is still the mainstream product in the luxury car market. Despite the double crisis of rising raw materials and chip supply shortages, it still maintains a steady level of transactions, and models such as the Hongqi H9, as a latecomer, have also shown a catch-up trend in the past month.
Looking at the automotive industry in the past month, with the call for "local New Year" and "pre-holiday discounts", car companies around the world still maintain a normal level of supply, and people's desire to consume has not decreased. In China, where the economic and epidemic prevention trends are gradually improving, the market recovery will also be an inevitable phenomenon.