Passing the finish line in 2017, Audi of the single-brand sales championship in China was relieved with a total of 595,000 vehicles.

This year, the road to defending Audi is not easy. It was not until December 2017 that Audi had completed its annual sales reversal. Before that, Mercedes-Benz had surpassed BMW and Audi in the Chinese market and once ranked first in sales. "Mercedes will remain modest and cautious." Although Mercedes-Benz has taken full advantage of the time, but the global president of Mercedes-Benz Zeche still respond to "China Business" reporter. "It hasn't been very interesting to watch the taillights of competing products for so many years. Now we have reached the front." Now, in the face of Mercedes-Benz's fast and solid sales results, Cai Che said.

The similar story is that in just five years, ABB (Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW) all experienced a "crisis" in the Chinese market, but all three actively adjusted and regained quality growth. After the first-tier luxury brand ABB, second-tier luxury brands also started to catch up. Whether it is Jaguar Land Rover that targets “ABB+J”, Cadillac is still leading the second-tier luxury brands with more than 50% increase, and even includes “ABBB” as the slogan of propaganda slogans. The "polar" battle is getting more and more intense.

“In the future, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi each account for one-fourth of the luxury car market, and second-tier luxury brands will occupy the remaining quarter. This pattern may also last a long time.” Just as BMW (China) President Liu What wisdom says, in the stronger era of the strong, seemingly stable echelons, the next competition seems to be full of suspense.

ABB close combat

The trick to master is that the opponent is strong enough.

“In 2017, we were a little bit taller than BMW, and Audi surpassed us through our own efforts. We are very happy to narrow the gap with our competitors.” For the year's sales performance, Cai Che said.

Compared with 2016, ABB's sales gap has further narrowed. In 2016, Audi sold 591,000 vehicles in China, 511,000 BMW (including Mini), and 473,000 Mercedes-Benz. In 2017, Mercedes-Benz halved its gap with its rivals from more than 100,000 in the previous year to only 7,420.

The data show that in 2017, Mercedes-Benz continued to win the world’s top-selling sales with 2.29 million units. In the Chinese market, Mercedes-Benz and the smart brand also delivered a total of 611,000 new vehicles. Mercedes-Benz exceeded 600,000 units in a single global market for the first time. turn off.

The leap-forward development of Mercedes-Benz is inseparable from its own efforts, and Audi has also left the opponent with a good opportunity to catch up. Audi dealership network was once paralyzed after the “SAIC Audi” incident. From January to June 2017, Audi cumulatively sold 256,600 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 12.2%, and the market ranked first for ABB third place. However, FAW-Volkswagen Audi quickly clarified the relationship between the parties and also quickly restored its sales.

In addition, BMW, which does not seem to have an advantage in the ABB rankings, has also achieved historical best results this year and continues to maintain a significant advantage in the field of new energy vehicles. In 2017, BMW Group delivered 59.4 BMW and MINI vehicles in China, which was a year-on-year increase of 15.1%, and achieved the highest historical sales record. "The year 2018 is the year of BMW's products. We don't think of the rank of sales, but the quality of the whole can continue to increase, including the profitability of dealers." Liu Zhiru said.

Second-tier luxury brand collective exertion

Although this year’s fierce battle has not changed ABB’s ranking in China, the changes in this year have not been small in the second-tier luxury car market.

Compared to sales of 116,000 vehicles in 2016 and 79,000 vehicles in 2015, Cadillac’s sales of 175,000 vehicles in 2017 are impressive. This year, Cadillac achieved a 50.8% year-on-year growth, while in the Chinese market, it maintained a double-digit growth for 22 consecutive months.

Cadillac is doing its best to take the top spot of the second-tier luxury brand and push Jaguar Land Rover to the second place. In the previous 2014 to 2016, Jaguar Land Rover has won the second-tier luxury brand sales crown for three consecutive years. In 2017, Jaguar Land Rover delivered 146,000 vehicles in the Chinese market, a year-on-year increase of 23%.

In fact, from the growth point of view, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and other second-tier luxury brands have achieved double-digit growth, and their results are remarkable. In 2017, Volvo sales in China increased by 25.8% year-on-year and sold 114,000 units, exceeding the 110,000 sales mark. From the perspective of sales structure, Volvo sales in the Chinese market exceeds 20% from the S90. The XC60 also contributed a lot to sales growth.

Since then, the Lincoln brand has sold a total of 54,000 vehicles in 2017, a 66% increase from 2016, setting a new annual sales volume for the third consecutive year. It is worth mentioning that the sales volume of Lincoln’s 6030 vehicles in December 2017 also refreshed the monthly sales record of the brand in China, with a year-on-year increase of 41%. At the same time, its five models: Lincoln Navigator, MKX, MKC, Continental Continental and MKZ also created their best sales in December.

From a sales perspective, in 2017, the top ten luxury brands all achieved sales growth. Except Dongfeng Infiniti's growth rate was slightly lower, other second-tier luxury brands increased by more than 20%.

Grab the Chinese market

Whether it is ABB, which is far ahead of the rest, or the fast-moving second-tier luxury brand, the Chinese market is the most important part of it.

For Mercedes at full speed, China is still its largest single market. Thanks to the ride of the Chinese SUV market, Mercedes-Benz SUV products have sold more than 805,000 vehicles worldwide, an increase of 14% year-on-year, and sales accounted for more than one-third of the total sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles. In the Chinese market, SUV models account for 42% of overall sales.

Also leaving Audi in the Chinese market is Audi. In 2017, Audi (including imported cars) delivered a total of 595,000 new vehicles in China, an increase of 1.05% year-on-year, and won the first place in China’s luxury car market for 30 consecutive years. Among them, domestic models sold 545,000 vehicles a year, and imported models sold 50,000 vehicles throughout the year. In 2018, Audi will reintroduce 16 models, including the all-new Audi A8L, the new Audi Q5L and the new Audi Q8.

In addition, for Cadillac, which has achieved a 51% growth in the Chinese market, sales in the Chinese market have surpassed that of the United States in this year, accounting for nearly half of global sales. Cadillac chairman Johan de Nysschen stated that Cadillac will play a central role in GM’s electric vehicle strategy in the future and will launch a number of models based on the GM’s new electric vehicle platform, some of which will be produced in China.

According to Jason Luo, chairman and chief executive of Ford Motor Co., Ltd., the Chinese market is also of irreplaceable importance. “Lincoln still maintains a strong momentum. As one of the fastest growing luxury brands in China, it has created annual sales volume for the third year in a row.” With the increasing emphasis of luxury brands on the Chinese market, competition in this market will also increase in the future. fierce. It will be the iron rule that the luxury brand will develop for a while in the future.