Since 2018, the topic of the so-called "winter in the automotive industry" has continued to ferment, especially after encountering negative impacts such as the epidemic and chip shortage, the consumer side and supply side of the automotive industry have been challenged. Comparatively speaking, in the context of consumption upgrading, the market situation of luxury and joint venture brands is relatively good, but in terms of the latest sales performance released by the Association, this statement seems to be untenable.
According to data from the Federation of Passenger Vehicles, in March this year, the retail sales of the domestic passenger car market reached 1.579 million units, down 10.5% year-on-year; while in terms of luxury cars and mainstream joint venture brands, the retail sales of the two were 230,000 units and 590,000 units respectively, with a year-on-year decline of 14% and 30% respectively. So, how are the sales performance of major luxury brands today? To make the data more convincing, let's take stock of the sales performance of luxury brands in the first quarter.
BMW: Sales lead the first-tier market
In terms of sales performance in 2021, BMW Group (including BMW and MINI brands) successfully won the "BBA" sales championship in China with annual sales of 846,200 vehicles, and once again set a new high in China sales, and this advantage also continued until 2022. In the first quarter of this year, the BMW Group's cumulative sales in China reached 208,500 units, although it fell by 9.2% year-on-year, but with reference to the current market, it still achieved a leading market segment.
It is worth noting that bmw group's global sales in the first quarter were about 596,900 vehicles, which translates to 34.9% of China's car market, becoming an important sales support for it; in addition, the global sales of pure electric products in the first quarter reached 35,300 units, an increase of 149.2% year-on-year, but compared with the performance of fuel products, there is still a long way to go.
At the end of March, the domestic BMW X5L and BMW i3 officially landed in the Chinese car market, which is expected to create a new sales growth point; at the same time, the pure electric products of the BMW 5 Series and BMW X1 are also expected to be launched this year, which can also further expand the influence of the BMW brand in the pure electric market. On the road to achieving the "elephant turnaround", the BMW Group must not only stabilize sales, but also resist the threat of new car-making forces and traditional luxury brand pure electric products, and there is still a long way to go.
Mercedes-Benz: new energy products in an all-round way
As a recognized "inventor of the car", the Mercedes-Benz brand has irreplaceable brilliance in the fuel era and has best-selling products in various fields. In the first quarter, the Mercedes-Benz brand's cumulative global sales reached 501,600 units, down 15% year-on-year, of which sales in China were 192,000 units, accounting for 38.3% of global sales. Global sales of pure electric products were 21,900 units, up 210% year-on-year.
Similar to the BMW Group, the sales volume of the Mercedes-Benz brand in the first quarter also showed a downward trend, and at the same time, pure electric products are in their infancy and have great room for growth. According to the plan, Mercedes-Benz will accelerate the transformation of "electrification" this year, and is expected to launch eight new energy models including EQS SUVs and C-class plug-in hybrids.
For luxury brands, the difficulty in developing pure electric products is that in order to maintain the brand image, it is necessary to get involved in the high-end market, and the new forces of car manufacturing have long been laid out in this market segment; at the same time, because of the low output, it is inevitable to increase product pricing after sharing research and development and production costs, thus losing part of its competitiveness. However, backed by the strength to penetrate the global market and the determination to go all out, I believe that the future Mercedes-Benz brand will also bring more surprises.
Tesla: It is expected to join the first-line camp
According to the previous practice, after saying mercedes-benz and BMW brands, it should be an Audi brand, but because FAW-Volkswagen Audi has not yet released sales data, it is still unknown; however, referring to the suspension of production in the five major vehicle factories in Changchun City in March, the A4L, Q5L and other models under the Audi brand may be affected, so its sales performance in the first quarter is difficult to be optimistic.
In contrast, Tesla, as the representative of the new car-making forces, delivered more than 310,000 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter, up 68% year-on-year; deliveries in China reached 180,000 vehicles, a record high. It is worth mentioning that Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory not only enables Model 3 and Model Y to cover the Chinese market faster, but also meets certain export needs, providing an important boost for the rapid development of the Tesla brand.
From the data, it is not difficult to find that although Tesla's delivery volume in China in the first quarter is still a certain gap with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and it is deeply affected by the price increase of raw materials and the decline of subsidies, the performance of nearly 200,000 units is enough to rank among the first-line luxury camps; especially in the context of the deepening of the new energy pattern, the "BBA" that has been used is likely to become "BBT".
Lincoln: Aiming for a second-line "dark horse"
After taking stock of first-tier luxury brands, you may wish to turn your attention to the second-tier luxury market. If you talk about qualifications, the Lincoln brand that was first realized in 2020 is indeed not deep, but in only two years, the Lincoln brand has achieved the initial layout of the SUV market, and at the same time, the first car Lincoln Z was also listed in the past March.
In the first quarter of this year, the sales volume of the Lincoln brand in China reached 19,471 units, which set a new high in the same period; at the same time, the lincoln Z order that was recently listed broke through the new design concept of 5,600 units and the market positioning of 300,000 cars, which is expected to become a new sales growth point for the brand. From the perspective of long-term development, the Lincoln brand with the label of "American luxury" is expected to become a "dark horse" in the second- and second-tier markets.
Conclusion: From the sales performance of the above luxury brands, it is not difficult to find that the change in the industry pattern and consumption concept is making the luxury market undergo changes from the inside out, and the temporary sales downturn is also expected. But it is certain that electrification and intelligence will also become the focus of the development of luxury brands in the next stage, as for who can take the lead in achieving transformation, who will also have more chances of winning.