China will become the world's second-largest luxury car market this year

According to foreign reports, the Chinese luxury car market continues to rise this year. Analysts predict that this year China will replace Germany and become the world’s second-largest luxury car market after the United States.

Estimates given by Jenny Gu, an analyst at LMC Automotive, indicate that luxury car sales in the Chinese market this year may have reached 939,000 vehicles, a 39% increase from the year-ago period in 2010. In contrast, the sales of the top three luxury cars in Germany were 914,000 vehicles. In 2012, the Chinese luxury car market will still maintain a 16% year-on-year increase, while Germany only has 4.4%.

In the event of a sluggish European market, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi's three German luxury cars rely mainly on the Chinese and US markets to drive growth, and this trend will continue until at least the second half of 2012.

Jenny Gu said: "China's luxury car penetration rate is low, demand is still in an upward trend. While in Germany and other mature markets, car sales will fluctuate with the economic cycle."

So far, the United States remains the world’s largest luxury car market. In 2011, the total sales of luxury cars are expected to be 1.65 million, an increase of 18% year-on-year.