According to the Passenger Federation’s most recent sales data, the retail sales volume of the passenger car market in February 2023 was 1.389 million units, representing a 10.3% year-on-year increase and a 7.4% month-on-month increase. The retail sales volume of China’s passenger car market was 2.678 million units in the first two months of 2023, a 19.8% decrease year on year. In February, the overall passenger car market increased significantly in comparison to January’s low sales volume.
First of all, let’s take a look at the performance of the high-end luxury car market. BBA’s first-line luxury brands continue to dominate the luxury car market. The top six models on the list are all BBA models, with the BMW 3 Series BEV ranking eighth. This month’s top three luxury car lists were also topped by the Audi A6L, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
With sales of 12,167 units and increase of 49.2 percent year on year, Audi’s A6L surpassed the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series to take the top spot in high-end luxury sedan sales this month. The A6L is popular due to its excellent cost performance. The bare-car price of its lower-priced models has reached 330,000 yuan in some regions, which is very appealing for a luxury medium and large car, but the ongoing price-off promotions have directly reduced Audi’s influence, which is not a minor blow to the brand.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class sold 12,153 units in February, a 29.6% increase over the previous year, narrowly losing out to the Audi A6L. Although the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is not particularly noteworthy in terms of product force, its logo has caused many people to fall in love with it. Mercedes-Benz can rank first in the BBA, which has a lot to do with its years of brand building. Despite complaints, the Mercedes C-Class sold more than 10,000 units in this month, reaching 11,869 units, a 124% increase over the previous year.
This month, none of BMW’s products is on the top three. The BMW 5 Series sold 9,609 units in a single month. Despite a 2.7% year-on-year increase, it remained far behind the Audi A6L and Mercedes-Benz E-Class at the same level. On the one hand, the terminal’s preferential treatment of similar products makes it slightly less competitive. The BMW 5 Series, on the other hand, has a high level of user complaints. Car and machine function does not match the publicity, the trunk and other suspected reduction, burning oil, and this kind of complaints remain unresolved, as do oil leakage, burning oil, abnormal car body noise, and car and machine function problems, but such complaints appear to have a minor impact.
BMW’s 3 Series ranked fifth with 8,868 units sold, a 12.9 percent decrease year on year. Furthermore, 2,976 BMW 3-series BEVs were sold, indicating a resurgence of BMW’s new energy products. BMW’s 3 Series, once one of luxury sedans on the top three in terms of sales, has recently seen a drop in sales, reflecting the impact of the complaints.
Another Audi model, the A4L, sold 6,935 units in this month, a 26.7% decrease from the previous year. Audi launched a large discount at the terminal in March in order to recover the market and reverse its decline. According to reports, the price of entry-level new cars in some regions fell to be 200,000 yuan after the terminal discount, from which we can tell Audi’s pressure.