Audi posted its first sales decline in China, its largest market, in more than two years last month, joining BMW in recording a slide in demand for premium autos amid a slowing economy.
Audi, the best-selling luxury brand in China, saw sales decline 1.6 per cent from a year earlier, the first drop since February 2013. BMW and Mini sales fell four per cent in May, the first decrease in a decade.
The sales declines mirror the slowing of the broader vehicle market, which saw deliveries fall for a second month in May, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data. A slowing economy and a stock-market boom have combined to draw money away from auto purchases.
“The current reticence to buy in the Chinese luxury segment was particularly noticeable,” Audi said in a statement on its website.
Other premium brands have also reported declines in demand. Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover unit posted a 32 per cent plunge in China deliveries last month, while Volvo deliveries slid 2.2 per cent.
Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson had predicted in April that the brand’s China sales would expand faster than the expected five to 10 per cent gain for the premium car market.
