Chinese Dig Luxury
China Car Times reports that “Whilst the Chinese auto market is down as a whole,” (well, it’s not “down”, a growth of 23.5 percent in June is not “down”, and a growth of 48.2 percent in the first half year isn‘t “down” either – it just cooled off a bit, in a Chinese way) “there are certain niche segments such as the luxury car business that seems to performing above and beyond expectations.”
Apart from the tortured language – no kidding.
It’s mostly Germany luxury that tickles the fancy of well-heeled Chinese, with Japanese luxury bringing up the rear. First half year figures according to Chinese car Times:
- Mercedes, including AMG, Smart, and Maybach brands sold 59,600 vehicles
- BMW, including Mini, delivered 75615 cars
- Audi delivered 108,600 cars
- Lexus sold 20,000 vehicles
- Sales statistics for Infiniti China and Acura China are not currently available
As reported before, imports of European cars to China are scorching hot with first five months import number up 237.2 percent, thanks to a weaker Euro and richer Chinese.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Bertel, of the extremely limited supply of new "gullwings" available world wide, how many went to China?
Pardon my ignorance , but what is the make of the car? That looks sorta like the original '56, but it is tacky. Just like the dewd blocking a view of the car's rear 1/4.