(NBD) Aug. 29 -- On the 20th Chengdu Motor Show, the No.9 high-end car exhibition hall has received much attention.

In fact, sales of passenger vehicles slowed down this year, while sales of luxury cars surged almost 20%.

Of the 12 best-selling luxury car brands, 11 have achieved double digit growth in the first 7 months of 2017. Second- and third-tier luxury brands, in particular, have delivered solid growth. For instance, Cadillac posted a 65.7% growth, and the sales of Lincoln and Acura even increased by 200% and 491.4% respectively in the first 7 months this year.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of China Passenger Car Association, said that the strong sale growth of luxury cars was mainly pushed by new models. As companies drive up localization, there will be growing demand of luxury cars in the future, which would come along with fiercer competition.

Previously, buyers from eastern China cities are the main power of luxury car consumption. But as the development of middle and western China speeds up, luxury car market in these areas are expanding. Data shows that Southwest China's Sichuan province has become the 4th largest luxury car market, only after Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang province.  

Data of 2016 revealed that luxury car buyers are getting younger. A report released by Hurun Research indicates that the average age of luxury owners in China is only 33. Post-80s and post-90s generation became the main consumers of luxury cars.

And last year's data showed that in Chengdu, the key market in western China, 40% of luxury car buyers are born after 1987. Industry insiders say it is largely due to Chengdu's increasingly strong economic growth.In the first half of 2017 alone,Chengdu's GDP has totaled 611.14 billion yuan (92.3 billion U.S. dollars), a year-over-year increase of 8.2% in terms of comparable prices.

A car owner told NBD than Chengdu people is more willing to spend. Moreover, compared with people living in Beijing and Shanghai, they face smaller pressure. Landing a car loan is easy. They will buy it as long as they can handle the loan.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn