China's luxury car sales will grow 70% in 2010: expert

In light of the surging demand in China's premium car market, global auto giants such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all accelerated their expansion through either building new plants or importing new models, wccdaily.com reported Monday.

"In recent years, the luxury car segment in China has been growing more than twice as fast as the other segments. If everything goes well, sales of luxury cars should approach 700,000 units in 2010, a year-on-year increase of 70 percent," said Zhang Xiaojun, executive vice-president of FAW-VW Audi Sales Division. Meanwhile, JD Power & Associates predicted that luxury car sales in China will double by 2015.

Automakers who are no longer content with the slow gain from importing cars have stepped up their efforts in expanding local production. Audi and BMW are now building their second plants in China. Bejing Benz, a joint venture between Daimler AG and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp, is establishing a new factory too. Besides, Lexus, Toyota's luxury vehicle division that has always been selling imported cars in the Chinese market is also mulling construction of a new facility.

In terms of network expansion, Mercedes-Benz will double its network in the world's largest auto market next year and complete its sales target of 1 million units in three years, Mercedes-Benz (China) said at the launching ceremony of the new A-Class held in Shanghai on November 18.

According to wccdaily.com, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi will add four, two and three dealerships in China before the end of 2011, bringing the total to six, six and seven, respectively. The high-end imported brands Volkswagen and Porsche each will add one dealership in China as well, taking the total to two.

"The market share of luxury cars is usually around 15 percent in a mature auto market. That is currently 15 percent and 30% in US and Germany respectively, but is less than 5 percent in China, so there is obviously great growth potential in China," said Wang Yan, head of PR for Mercedes-Benz (China).