In the battle for China’s car market, the high ground remains occupied. While Western carmakers have been steadily losing share in the broader landscape — overtaken in many segments by aggressive, fast-rising domestic rivals — their dominance at the very top of the market is proving stubbornly resilient.
New data on 2025’s best-selling ultra-luxury vehicles in China paints a familiar picture: foreign badges still rule. Among the twenty most-purchased models priced over one million yuan — around €120,000 — just two wear a Chinese nameplate.
Both were from Yangwang, BYD’s premium electric sub-brand, which slipped into the rankings at 15th and 16th place with its U8L and U8 SUVs. Every other slot was filled by the usual suspects: Porsche, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus.
Porsche or Mercedes in the lead?
The numbers are telling. Porsche’s Cayenne led the list with sales of 17,194 units, more than eleven times higher than Yangwang’s U8L (1,538 units). It is a sobering gap, despite years of investment and innovation by Chinese automakers desperate to prove they can compete not just on affordability but also on desirability. Brand prestige, it seems, remains the last frontier.
The Cayenne is followed by two Land Rovers: the Range Rover (16,956) in second place, and the Defender (15,831) in third. At spot number four, another Porsche emerges: the Panamera (12,396).
The S-Class, whose facelift is revealed later this week, follows in fifth place in its Maybach version (11,311). In fact, if you add the regular S-Class, the limo totals 20.846 units, beating the Cayenne to the top spot. The complete list is available in the infographic.
26% slide
For Porsche, this pop poll comes at a curious moment. Once one of China’s premium darlings, the sports car maker is now deep in retreat. The company delivered fewer than 42,000 vehicles in China last year — a 26% slide from 2024, and its fourth year of decline.
In response, it is shrinking its dealership network by almost a third and trimming costs. Yet even as it withdraws, its grip on the ultra-luxury bracket hasn’t loosened.
Even the language of retreat feels carefully chosen. Porsche China CEO Alexander Pollich called the brand’s repositioning a “recalibration,” not a concession.
The company is keeping its R&D investments in place and eyeing collaborations with Chinese firms. But there are no plans to manufacture locally, and no hint of a pivot away from its long-standing emphasis on exclusivity.
Market under pressure
For homegrown challengers, cracking the ultra-luxury segment is as much about perception as it is about engineering. Price cuts and EV innovation may win over the masses, but they don’t easily dislodge the decades of image-building embedded in a Porsche crest or a Mercedes grille.
That distinction matters in a market under pressure. China’s average car price fell again in 2025, down to 170,000 yuan (21,000 euros), as fierce competition continued to squeeze margins. Even the luxury tier saw a dip. But the very top — the ultra-luxury realm — remains more resistant. Here, scarcity and symbolism still command a premium.
The Yangwang U8L’s inclusion in the top 20 is worthy, but whether that moment grows into momentum depends on more than sales charts. For now, foreign brands still define what it means to arrive in style.
