Shanghai (ZXZC)- In the year-end period, some carmakers further stabilized their leadership in China's premium vehicle market, while others are still working on spurt to close 2019 with a better performance.

Among the seven mainstream premium car brands we hereby enumerated, only Cadillac suffered year-on-year decline in Nov. China sales. Jaguar Land Rover was one of two brands that faced downturn in Jan.-Nov. sales, while the decrease was much lower than that of previous months.

On the whole, premium car demands in China are on the rise, defying the downward trend for the overall auto market.

It is evident that the overall dismal performance has scarcely affected the “Germany's Big Three”. Last month, all of them attained double-digit growth over the previous year. As for 2019's cumulative sales, none of them failed to gain year-on-year increase.

BMW

In November, BMW saw its China deliveries (including sales of Mini) jumped 12.1% from a year ago, the eighth-time two-digit growth for the first eleven months. Besides, the growth for the other three months remained positive as well.

(Photo source: BMW China)

The Jan.-Nov. retail sales grew 13.6% to 655,783 units. With over 157,000 units delivered (+7.8%), the new BMW 5 Series was crowned the best-seller. Roughly 117,000 consumers took delivery of the all-new BMW 3 Series cars. Besides, the year-to-date deliveries of the BMW X family soared 50% compared with November, 2018, of which the volume of the new BMW X3 exceeded 110,000 units.

Audi

In terms of Nov. deliveries, Audi trailed BMW by only 964 units. In China, 67,402 Audi-branded cars delivered (+16.8%) in November set a new record-breaking figure. Cumulative deliveries were up 3.5% to 618,596 units.

（Photo source: FAW-Volkswagen Audi)

Audi said the growth was driven in part by the high demand for the A6 L (16,559 units, +9.3%). The Audi Q2 L was also introduced in China as an all-electric model in November. Apart from the locally-produced Audi Q2 L e-tron, the Audi e-tron also went on sale in China in the middle of last month.

Mercedes-Benz

Last month, Mercedes-Benz saw its China deliveries jumped 11% year on year to 57,901 units, a new record high reached for the month.

For the period between January and November, deliveries of 640,933 units constituted an increase of 6.3%. The growth should be partly attributed to the rise in the sales of the C-Class (150,462 units, +9.2%) and the E-Class (142,145 units, +8.4%).

(Photo source: Mercedes-Benz)

In 2019, the Stuttgart-based company with the three-pointed star rolled out nearly 10 all-new and refreshed SUV models in China, including the all-new long-wheelbase GLC SUV, the all-new GLE SUV and the all-new GLS SUV. In addition, the China-built EQC all-electric SUV hitting the market signified that Mercedes-Benz has made inroads into the country's NEV market.

The competition among the so-called second-tier premium auto brands was comparatively fierce as well.

Lexus

It seems that the price rise has not whittled down consumers' affection to Lexus. In November, the Toyota-owned brand delivered 19,325 new cars (+16.5%) in China, outselling Cadillac by 2,525 units. Cumulative sales also represented a double-digit increase.

(Photo source: Lexus China)

The vigorous growth owes much to the frequent roll-out of new products. Just for the month of September, there were a number of models like the new Lexus RX and the refreshed ES/NX/UX/LS going on sale. Furthermore, the UX 300e, Lexus' first mass-produced BEV model, made its world's debut at the Auto Guangzhou 2019.

Cadillac

For the first eleven months, Cadillac's China sales dropped 5.7% from a year earlier to 194,847 units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The sales in November plunged 20% from the prior-year period, the third-month-in-a-row decrease.

（Photo source: Cadillac China)

With 6,005 vehicles sold, the XT5 was honored the hottest-selling model in November, while still posted a 27.2% decrease. Moreover, the sales volume of the Cadillac XT4, CT5 and CT6 amounted to 3,872 units, 2,955 units and 2,798 units respectively.

In October, Cadillac unveiled the CT4 in China, a rear-wheel-drive compact sedan that replaces the ATS, which has bowed out of production. The new car model is expected to go on sale next year.

Volvo Cars

Volvo Cars' sales in China were up 26.7% in November, compared with the same period last year to 14,502 units. The strong growth in the region was led by the demand for the locally-produced XC60, the S90 and the XC40.

Cumulative sales in China grew 16.3% over the year-ago period to 138,053 units. The company's strong performance means that China beat its full year 2018 sales performance within the first eleven months.

(Photo source: Volvo Cars)

It is worth noting that the all-new Volvo S60 formally hit the market in China with its seven variants priced between RMB286,900 and RMB461,900. The roll-out of the new model is poised to further boost the automaker's China sales.

Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover said its China deliveries surged 29% over a year ago to 8,780 units in November, achieving double-digit growth for five straight months. Meanwhile, the decrease in year-to-date retail sales had been narrowed to 16.8%, versus 43.4% for the period by April. 

(Photo source: Jaguar)

To further increase sales in China, the U.K.-based premium car maker plans to roll out 30 refreshed and all-new models in China by end-2021. Of those, the all-new Jaguar XEL has hit the market at the end of November.