China’s Luxury Car Market Hit Hard: Bentley, Lamborghini, and Porsche Sales Slump

Last year, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Porsche sales plummeted by double digits compared to the previous year.

Last year, sales of luxury car brands like Bentley in China dropped by double digits. As the economic downturn continued, local brands rushed to target the local new energy vehicle (NEV) market, leading to a sharp decline in the size of the premium car market.

According to industry sources, on the 11th, Bentley sold about 3,000 units in the Chinese premium market last year. This is a 17.76% decrease from the previous year. Lamborghini and Porsche sold 845 and 79,300 units, respectively, a decrease of 16.99% and 15.01% of the prior year. In particular, Porsche showed a decline in the Chinese market for the second consecutive year. Ferrari recorded sales of about 1,500 units, a decrease of 4.07% from the previous year.

The industry believes this is due to a significant decrease in drivers seeking luxury car brands as the local economic downturn continues. Michael Kirsch, CEO of Porsche China, explained, “After the brand’s popular model, Cayenne, underwent a full change, the price abnormally increased, which burdened consumers.”

Especially recently, as the size of the local New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market has expanded, the number of affluent people seeking local-brand electric cars has increased, and demand has noticeably decreased. An industry insider said, “Compared to the global sales of these brands in the same year, the shrinking size of the Chinese premium market becomes more realistic.” He added, “Lamborghini and Porsche recorded sales of 10,100 and 320,200 units in the global market in the same year, up 9.91% and 3.34% from the previous year, respectively.”

Given this situation, luxury car brands are focusing on the custom market. The size of the premium car market is shrinking while the size of the custom market is growing. Bentley and Ferrari, which have proactively coped with, are representative brands. These brands achieved double-digit sales growth in the local custom market, at 43% and 34%, respectively, compared to the previous year.