China’s Xinhua news agency reports that several luxury car brands reported slow sales in China in 2004.

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The agency said that Audi sold 64,018 cars in China in 2004, rising only 0.8 percent over the previous year. The growth rate plunged from more than 70 percent in 2003.


Sales of Audi A6 and A4, made at Volkswagen’s joint venture with First Automotive Works Corp (FAW) totalled 46,177 units and 15,841 units respectively last year.


Audi also exported 2,000 cars to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong last year, including 1,089 larger Audi A8s, the company said.


Xinhua also reported that Mercedes-Benz said that its combined sales in the mainland and Hong Kong rose by 5 percent year-on-year to 11,500 units in 2004. Its S Class sedans accounted for more than 50 percent of the sales.

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The report said that both Audi and Mercedes-Benz fell well short of their sales targets in China last year. Audi had planned to sell 80,000 units and Mercedes- Benz between 13,000 and 14,000 units.


The news follows hot on the heels of news that BMW reported its sales in China tumbled by 16 percent to 15,500 units last year.


Some 55% of its sales came from the 3 and 5 Series cars built at BMW’s joint venture with Brilliance China Auto, the Hong Kong-listed van maker in northeast China’s Liaoning Province.


In 2003, BMW’s sales in China increased by 176 percent.


“These luxury carmakers’ weak performances in China were largely the result of a sharp deceleration in the overall domestic car market last year,” said Jia Xinguang, chief analyst of China Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corp.


Sales of China-made cars climbed by 15.17 percent to 2.33 million units last year over 2003. The growth was down from 75 percent in 2003.