Luxury Cars - China - June 2018
“Chinese luxury car buyers have divided opinions towards cabin interior designs. Although they will welcome creative designs, they fail to reach an agreement on a specific direction. 30-39-year-olds prefer those sophisticated cabin designs having a driver-facing central console and real buttons; while younger generations prefer simple and clear central consoles and touchscreens. Door panel design is worth highlighting in car commercials, given that the layout of control buttons on doors receives the highest mention rate among all the interior design features.”
– Aaron Guo, Associate Director of Research
This report looks at the following issues:
- What parts of interiors are worth investigating?
- Sophisticated, driver-focused versus simple, clear cabin design
- Are local start-ups and sub-brands challenging luxury car brands?
What you get
What's included
- Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour
- Market data
- Competitive analysis
- Risks and Opportunities
- What’s Next
- Market Trends
This market report provides in-depth analysis and insight supported by a range of data. At the same time, introductory and top-level content is provided to give you an overview of the issues covered.
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Market
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Consumer
Mintel's proprietary consumer research provides our analysts with the attitudinal and behavioral data used to provide valuable insight to topical issues.
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Brand/Company
Mintel provides overviews of the top brands and manufacturers, and uses consumer research to explore attitudes and reactions to brands, as well as insight into what will resonate with consumers.
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Data
Market reports provide appendices of data to support the research and insight produced. Our tables of data are easily manipulated and downloadable to support your research needs and covers factors from consumer attitudes to market forecasts.

* This is a sample representation of the report layout and does not reflect the research included in this report.
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Table of contents
Overview
- What you need to know
- Covered in this Report
- Excluded
- What you need to know
Executive Summary
- The market
- Figure 1: Best- and worst-case forecast of luxury cars sales volume, 2013-23
- Companies and brands
- Figure 2: Market share of luxury car brands, by sales volume, 2015-17
- The consumer
- Popularity is more important than uniqueness
- Figure 3: Luxury car brand feature association, March 2018
- BBA leads in favourability…
- Figure 4: Favourite luxury car brand, open question, March 2018
- …with diversified perceived brand character
- Figure 5: Correspondence Analysis – Brand characteristics, March 2018
- Interior design could be highlighted
- Figure 6: Preferred interior design details, March 2018
- Young people prefer simple and clear cabin designs
- Figure 7: Attitudes towards interior designs, March 2018
- Overall high acceptance with a practical demand
- Figure 8: Demand level for self-driving functions, March 2018
- What we think
Issues and Insights
- What parts of interiors are worth investigating?
- The facts
- The implications
- Figure 9: The door panel design of Lexus LS500
- Sophisticated, driver-focused versus simple, clear cabin design
- The facts
- The implications
- Figure 10: Central console designs of Mercedes-Benz new A series and G series
- Are local start-ups and sub-brands challenging luxury car brands?
- The facts
- The implications
- What parts of interiors are worth investigating?
The Market – What You Need to Know
- China is now the largest luxury car market
- A faster growth than general passenger car market
- China is now the largest luxury car market
Market Size and Forecast
- Significantly faster than overall new passenger car sales
- Figure 11: Sales volume and growth rate of luxury cars and total new passenger cars in China, 2011-17
- China replaces America to be the largest luxury car market
- Figure 12: The US and China markets’ luxury car sales volume and share, 2012-17
- A CAGR of 15.6% over the next five years
- Figure 13: Best- and worst-case forecast of luxury cars sales volume, 2013-23
- Significantly faster than overall new passenger car sales
Market Factors
- Tariff cut and ownership structure adjustment
- The replacement wave and trading up Chinese car buyers
- The low-price competition
- Tariff cut and ownership structure adjustment
Key Players – What You Need to Know
- Audi saved its first position in terms of sales, with a slight lead
- The four core trends within the domestic auto industry
- Creative thinking in vehicle design and distribution
- Audi saved its first position in terms of sales, with a slight lead
Market Share
- Intensified competition between BBA
- Figure 14: Market share of luxury car brands, by volume, 2015-17
- The thriving ‘second-tier’ luxury car brands
- Figure 15: Sales volume of luxury car brands, 2015-17
- The legend of Lincoln continues
- A similar story for Japanese brands
- Intensified competition between BBA
Competitive Strategies
- Electrification
- Intellectualisation
- Municipalisation
- Vehicle networking
- Electrification
Who’s Innovating?
- Infotainment
- Luxury Vehicle Subscription
- Infotainment
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
- Popularity is more important than uniqueness
- BBA leads in favourability, with diversified perceived brand character
- Design and the functionality of doors could be highlighted
- Young people prefer simple and clear cabin designs
- Overall high acceptance with a practical demand
- Popularity is more important than uniqueness
Appreciated Luxury Car Brand Features
- Technology has the strongest halo effect, followed by the history
- Figure 16: Luxury car brand feature association, March 2018
- Popularity, instead of the uniqueness is more important
- Ethics matter, especially among luxury car owners
- Figure 17: Gap between luxury car owners and general car owners (as benchmark) on brand feature association, March 2018
- Price may not be a criterion
- Technology has the strongest halo effect, followed by the history
Favourite Luxury Car Brand
- BBA leads in the rank of favourability…
- Figure 18: Favourite luxury car brand, open question, March 2018
- …followed closely by four super luxury car brands led by Porsche
- Figure 19: Favourite luxury car brand, coded from open question, March 2018
- Different nominating motivations
- BBA leads in the rank of favourability…
Luxury Car Brand Character
- Mercedes-Benz has the most balanced brand personality
- Figure 20: Correspondence Analysis – Brand characteristics, March 2018
- Infiniti needs to work on building brand awareness
- Figure 21: Percentage of surveyed consumers who claim ‘I am not familiar with this brand’, March 2018
- Distinct perceived personalities of tier two luxury car brands
- Figure 22: Perceived brand personality of American brands, March 2018
- Figure 23: Perceived brand personality of Japanese brands, March 2018
- Figure 24: Perceived brand personality of British brands and Volvo, March 2018
- Mercedes-Benz has the most balanced brand personality
Preferred Interior Design Details
- Divided requirements on interior designs
- Figure 25: Preferred interior design details, March 2018
- Door panel design could be a hidden breakthrough point
- Figure 26: Interior requirement – TURF Analysis, March 2018
- Door storage and rear A/C outlet arrangement worth investigating
- Figure 27: Gap between luxury car owners and general car owners (as benchmark) on the preferred interior design details, March 2018
- Pursuits of car buyers aiming at different brands
- Figure 28: Preferred interior design details, by favourite car brand, March 2018
- Divided requirements on interior designs
Attitudes towards Interior Design
- Welcome creative and rule-breaking designs
- Figure 29: Attitudes towards interior designs, March 2018
- Different attitudes between 20s and 30s
- Figure 30: Attitudes of 20s and 30s towards the selected interior design features, March 2018
- The battle between buttons and screens
- Diversified demands of different brand buyers
- Figure 31: Attitudes towards the selected interior design features, by different brand buyer group, March 2018
- Welcome creative and rule-breaking designs
Self-driving Function Requirement
- Overall high acceptance
- Figure 32: Demand level for self-driving functions, March 2018
- 40-49-year-olds have the highest requirement on autonomous driving
- Figure 33: Percentage of respondents who claim ‘it is a must’, by age, March 2018
- Self-driving function preference related to income level
- Figure 34: Percentage of respondents who claim ‘it is a must’, by monthly household income, March 2018
- Overall high acceptance
Meet the Mintropolitans
- MinTs prefer driver-centred cabin designs
- Figure 35: Attitudes towards selected interior designs, by consumer classification, March 2018
- MinTs prefer driver-centred cabin designs
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
- Figure 36: Total market volume of luxury cars, 2013-23
Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
- Methodology
- Fan chart forecast
- Abbreviations
- Methodology
Luxury Cars - China - June 2018