Technology is overtaking traditional luxury car badges as the key consumer demand. The next generation of luxury cars will be defined by seamless integration with modern lifestyles.
Blair Zhang, Senior Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
The respondents in this Report comprise 1,000 internet users aged 18-59 who have luxury cars worth more than RMB300,000.
This Report explores the lifestyle trends of luxury car owners in terms of use occasions, purchasing motivation for luxury cars, demand for third spaces, configuration upgrades, spending that reflects owners’ tastes and the role played by luxury cars in their lives.
For the purposes of this survey, luxury car brands are defined as the following 15 brands: NIO (蔚来), Li Auto (理想), Huawei Stelato/Maextro (华为享界/尊界), Hongqi (红旗), Lexus, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Cadillac, Lincoln, Tesla, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover.
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Executive summary
- Key topics covered in this Report
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- Market factors
- Market opportunities
- Trend outlook: from status symbol to interconnected capability
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The market
- Total retail volume sales of cars growing steadily in China, market not yet saturated
- Graph 1: retail volume sales and growth of passenger cars, 2017-25
- Market for luxury cars over RMB300,000 expanding slowly
- Graph 2: volume sales of luxury cars priced at RMB300,000 and above (thousand units), 2020-25H1
- Graph 3: share of retail volume sales of passenger cars, by price point, 2020-24
- Consumer confidence continues to fluctuate amid slight, short-term increase in desire for luxury cars
- Graph 4: consumer confidence index, 2020-25
- Graph 5: desire for luxury goods and premium services – desire a lot, 2023-25
- Chinese brands gain significant momentum as German luxury cars trade price for volume
- Graph 6: volume sales growth of luxury car brands, by domestic vs German vs other international brands, 2024
- Smart driving, electrification emerge as key battlegrounds
- Smart tech competition shifts up a gear as smartphone-makers enter market
- The era of smart tech has arrived, trumping luxury car badges
- Graph 7: preferred brand for next car – top 20, 2025
- Brands offering lifestyle connectivity will have more room to develop
- Graph 8: purchase plans for the next 12 months – plan to switch brand, 2025
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The consumer
- Luxury car brand preferences by energy type and price point
- Most current luxury cars still fuel-powered, yet huge potential seen in premium electric cars
- Graph 9: energy type of planned next car, by gender, 2025
- Graph 10: energy type of current luxury car, by gender, 2025
- Luxury car owners’ car purchase budgets continue to rise
- Graph 11: purchase price of current luxury car vs price point considering for next car, 2025
- Chinese brands coming up fast
- Graph 12: current luxury car brand vs preferred brand for next car, by country, 2025
- Key factors driving purchases of luxury cars
- Practical functionality still dominates, brand value follows close behind
- Graph 13: purchase drivers for luxury cars, 2025
- When it comes to driving comfort, Chinese luxury car brands have the edge
- Graph 14: purchase drivers for luxury cars, by country origin of current car brand, 2025
- Users want practicality from Chinese-brand luxury cars as German brands’ traditional appeal starts to weaken
- Graph 15: purchase drivers for luxury cars, by country origin of preferred brand for next car, 2025
- Use occasions for luxury cars
- Daily commuting, family trips most common occasions for luxury car use
- Graph 16: most frequent use occasions for luxury cars, 2025
- Family trips, long-distance travel are the next opportunity
- Graph 17: most frequent use occasions for luxury cars, by city tier, 2025
- Li Auto weaves narrative around key family occasions
- Luxury car owners use luxury travel, holiday experiences to define taste, quality of life
- Graph 18: consumption that reflects personal taste, 2025
- Graph 19: spending that reflects personal taste – luxury travel and holiday experiences, by age, 2025
- Most respondents interested in travelling with pets, camping lifestyles
- Graph 20: luxury car activities – done or interested in doing, 2025
- Design of third spaces needs to closely align with current consumption trends
- Partner with users to help them explore life, enjoy the freedom that travel brings
- Traditional luxury car brands are pivoting from competing on mechanical performance to focus on technology, experience and lifestyle
- Demand for in-car experiences in luxury cars
- In-car navigation, entertainment bring high satisfaction rates as office features get the worst reviews
- Graph 21: luxury car activities – done or interested in doing, 2025
- Zeekr creates a mobile office in its 009 model, focusing on a better working experience
- Outside the office, users also value in-car rest time during the working day
- Six-seaters all the rage as consumers willing to pay for luxury of space
- Consumers most willing to pay for smart feature upgrades
- Graph 22: willingness to pay for upgrades, by feature, 2025
- Next on the list: practical functions boosting in-car experience; detailed, high-quality interior design
- Ultra-luxury brands focus on artistic, hand-crafted customisation, as such features also appeal
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Issues and insights
- From flaunting badges to showing off tech literacy: technology is redefining luxury car exclusivity
- Cars now an important way for consumers to show they buy in to new technologies
- Graph 23: meaning of luxury cars in owners’ lives, 2025
- Willingness to pay more for smart driving features far outranks trading up interest in traditional luxury configurations
- Graph 24: willingness to pay for upgrades – intelligent driver assistance systems, by generation, 2025
- Smart driving redefining car market as luxury brands wake up
- Future opportunities: expand from intelligent driving assistance to smart personal, car and home ecosystems
- Graph 25: target groups likely to pay to upgrade to intelligent driver assistance systems – CHAID analysis, 2025
- Smart connectivity defines the new luxury lifestyle
- Graph 26: spending that reflects personal taste and quality of life, 2025
- Huawei creates all-occasion smart connectivity solution spanning home, car and personal devices
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Appendix – methodology
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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