皇冠体育app

Low gear year for luxury car market
(皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-07 09:22

German luxury car makers Audi and Mercedes-Benz reported a mild growth in sales in 皇冠体育app last year.

Audi, part of the Volkswagen group, said that it sold 64,018 cars in 皇冠体育app in 2004, up only 0.8 per cent from the previous year.

Growth plunged from more than 70 per cent in 2003.

Sales of Audi A6 and A4, made at Volkswagen's joint venture with First Automotive Works Corp (FAW) - 皇冠体育app's top vehicle producer - amounted to 46,177 units and 15,841 units last year.

Audi also exported 2,000 cars to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong last year, including 1,089 larger Audi A8s, the company said.

Mercedes-Benz, owned by DaimlerChrysler, said that its combined sales in the mainland and Hong Kong rose by 5 per cent year-on-year to 11,500 units in 2004.

Its S Class sedans accounted for more than 50 per cent of the sales.

Both luxury car makers failed to fulfill their sales targets in 皇冠体育app last year, Audi having planned to sell 80,000 units and Mercedez-Benz between 13,000 and 14,000 units.

The news comes after another German luxury car producer, BMW, said last month that its sales in 皇冠体育app tumbled by 16 per cent to 15,500 units last year from 2003.

Fifty-five per cent of its sales came from the 3 and 5 Series sedans built at BMW's joint venture with Brilliance 皇冠体育app Auto, the Hong Kong-listed van maker in Northeast 皇冠体育app's Liaoning Province.

In 2003, BMW's sales in 皇冠体育app skyrocketed by 176 per cent from 2002.

"These luxury car makers' weak performances in 皇冠体育app were largely the result of a sharp deceleration in the overall domestic car market last year," said Jia Xinguang, chief analyst of 皇冠体育app Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corp.

Sales of 皇冠体育app-made cars climbed by 15.17 per cent to 2.33 million units last year over 2003.

The growth was down from 75 per cent in 2003.

皇冠体育app's luxury car market is expected to rebound this year with the arrival of many new models - to be produced in and exported to 皇冠体育app - and the nation's recent removal of the vehicle import quota, Jia said.

"However, competition will be very fierce this year with new strong rivals," he added.

Mercedes-Benz will start to assemble its E and C Class sedans at DaimlerChrysler's joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Corp.

The venture has an annual manufacturing capacity of 25,000 cars.

Meanwhile, Audi will produce an all-new Audi A6 at the VW-FAW joint venture later this year, and BMW will introduce its new 3 Series sedans - to debut at the upcoming Geneva motor show next month - into its joint venture during the third quarter of 2005.

General Motors will begin production of the Cadillac CTS and SRX at its joint venture in Shanghai during the first half of this year.

Next month Toyota Motor Corp's joint venture with FAW's affiliate in North 皇冠体育app's Tianjin Municipality will release its first batch of the Crown model.

Volvo Car Corp launched its new S40 sedan in 皇冠体育app as imports last month and expect the model to boost its sales significantly.

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