German luxury automobile manufacturers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have all managed to maintain strong sale growth in China over the first three months of the year.
According to a report appearing in the Guangzhou Daily on April 16, Chinese sales of BMW and Mini cars in the first quarter totaled 80,014 units, a 37 percent increase from 2011. A total of 30,593 vehicles were sold last month, growing 41.1 percent from last March and setting a new monthly record. 75,008 BMWs were sold in the first quarter. Sales of the 7 Series grew nearly 40 percent, while the X series of SUVs (pictured above) saw their sales grow a full 92 percent, with over 20,000 units sold. Meanwhile, Mini sales totaled 5,006 units, 32 percent higher than first quarter of 2011. Over 4,000 BMWs and minis were sold in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, combined.
FAW Volkswagen Audi's sales totaled 89,475 units in the first quarter of the year, a 41 percent increase from 2011. The joint venture sold 31,245 Audis in March alone, equivalent to a year-on-year increase of 37.8 percent. It's three major domestically manufactured models, the A6L, A4L and Q5 (pictured below), managed to bring in 25,237 orders in the month. Among them, sales of the Q5 SUV totaled 7,802 units, growing 155 percent from the previous year. The JV sold over 6,000 imported Audis during the month. A total of 346,100 Audis were sold worldwide in the first quarter of the year.
A total of 19,080 Mercedes-Benz, Smart, AMG and Maybach vehicles were sold last month, while quarterly sales totaled 54,720 units. Mercedes' flagship S-Class managed to bring in 3,420 and 13,400 orders in March and the first quarter, respectively. Sales of the domestically manufactured long-wheelbase E-Class and C-Class grew 36.4 percent in the first quarter. Smart car sales in March and the first quarter totaled 1,860 and 4,760 units, respectively.
