China to pass Germany as world’s second-largest luxury car market

China is on its way to overtake Germany as the world’s second largest market for luxury cars. Who is number 1? The United States. The demand in China for luxury cars is being fueled by two brands fighting for the top spot – Audi and BMW.

According to research firm LMC Automotive, the number of luxury cars sold in China jumped 39 percent to 939,000 in 2011, beating Germany, which came in at 914,000 luxury vehicles sold. Overall auto sales in China will probably increase 16 percent next year.

Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are the largest luxury carmakers in the region and are counting on the market to help boost sales in the first half of 2012 as the U.S. and European economy struggle.

Audi, the leader in luxury car sales in China, needs the market to help beat BMW as the global no. 1 luxury leader in 2015. Audi passed Daimler this year as the second largest luxury automaker.

All three brands posted a record November in China with Audi’s sales jumping a whopping 69 percent over the same period last year. Mercedes jumped 24 percent and BMW jumped 9.8 percent.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Bloomberg