Whether it’s BMW, Mercedes, Audi, or Porsche, all the German luxury brands are in the red this year. Six months in, 2026 is shaping up to be brutal for these long-established automakers, which continue to struggle in a market where they once flourished: China. Still, BMW can see the glass as half full and take comfort in knowing it comfortably beat its main rivals.
Through June, BMW was the only brand to surpass the one-million mark, selling 1,004,681 vehicles. Despite a 6.2% decline compared with the first six months of last year, it held a comfortable lead over Mercedes. The company with the three-pointed star delivered 837,200 vehicles, down an even steeper 7% versus H1 2025. Once again, Audi had to settle for third place, with 727,200 units, a 7.2% year-over-year decline.
Porsche doesn’t have nearly as many models or comparable pricing as the other three, but its downfall can’t be ignored. The Zuffenhausen-based automaker saw sales plummet 16.5% to 122,300 units, further reinforcing our belief that German luxury car brands are going through one of their most difficult periods in recent decades.
China Is Falling Out Of Love With Western Luxury Car Brands
As we mentioned earlier, these struggles primarily stem from a sharp drop in demand in China, where more and more customers are choosing domestic brands. Locally developed and built cars are much cheaper while offering comparable, if not better, technical specifications. Design has also come a long way from the days when Chinese brands drew obvious “inspiration” from Western automakers.
How severe is the decline in China? The BMW Group (including MINI) is down 20.4% to 261,773 vehicles in the first half of 2026. Mercedes is doing even worse, with sales falling 28% to 210,200 vehicles. Audi hasn’t disclosed its China sales through June, but the broader VW Group is down 25.9% to 1,313,800 units. Porsche, meanwhile, saw deliveries plunge 32% to just 14,501 cars.
The BMW Group has been on a slippery slope in China over the past few years. It went from record sales of 847,900 vehicles in 2021 to 626,000 in 2025. Given the dire first-half results, 2026 is shaping up to be even worse. However, the world isn’t just about China, and the company has been gaining ground elsewhere. Sales rose 3.9% in the United States and 5.4% in Europe during the January-June 2026 period, so it’s not all bad.
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
