Premium carmakers see China drama ahead - gulfnews.com
Beijing: China’s stock market crash this week brought a jolting end to an uncomfortable summer for most of the world’s carmakers, who in past years had enjoyed a smooth ride in the industry’s most profitable market. A crackdown on ostentatious consumption had threatened to depress sales for the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce, ever since Chinese president Xi Jinping launched his anticorruption campaign in 2013. This year, the impact has started to show. Even so, the sudden deceleration in Chinese car sales came as a surprise to some — not least when sales went into reverse in recent months. In July, car sales fell for a second consecutive month, by 6. 6 per cent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Some analysts believe that the scale of the decline is such that multinational manufacturers such as Volkswagen and BMW — respectively the parent companies of Bentley and Rolls-Royce — will be forced to warn on profits in the coming weeks. Between 2010 and 2014, premium and ultra-premium car sales grew by 50 per cent, as brands such as Audi, BMW, Porsche and Land Rover almost doubled their volumes in the country, according to data from IHS. Source: gulfnews.com
