Porsche China Sales Jump 19% So Far In 2014, 'Significantly Above' Same Period Last Year

Porsche AG said nearly 24 percent of its sales in the first 10 months of 2014 occurred in China, as the country is rapidly gaining on the U.S. as the German luxury car maker’s most important market.

The gap between China and U.S. Porsche sales has shrunk from 15 percent to 8 percent, in yet another illustration of China’s growing wealthy class and its evolving tastes.

“In China, Porsche lies significantly above the corresponding period last year with an increase in sales of 19 percent at 36,000 cars,” the company said Monday as it released global sales figures. The maker of the 911, Cayenne and Panamera delivered 151,462 vehicles this year through October, meaning almost one in four of its cars are heading to China right now.

Chinese buyers outpaced U.S. consumers in September Porsche sales, but in October the U.S. market came out ahead with 3,667 deliveries compared to China’s 3,429.

Porsche deliveries to China hit 36,021 in the year through October, compared to 39,033 for the U.S., an 8 percent difference. In the first 10 months of 2013, U.S. consumers bought 15 percent more Porsche cars than their Chinese counterparts.

The 17-country euro zone remains Porche’s largest regional market at 49,293 deliveries in the year through October, with Germany accounting for 41 percent of those sales. Porsche only releases single-country sales data for Germany, the U.S. and China in its monthly sales report because they are the three top markets.

Volkswagen AG acquired a controlling stake of Porsche in 2012. China is Volkswagen’s largest market, where the German automaker has had a presence since 1978. The company has 14 subsidiaries in China.