BMW and Mercedes report a decline in sales

German car manufacturers Mercedes and BMW are the latest brands share their quarterly sales figures for the three months to the end of September 2024 and things are not looking good. Both companies reported a drop in sales, which they attributed to slowing demand in China. Reuters reports.

BMW reported that sales fell 13% between July and the end of September 2024, while Mercedes-Benz reported a three percent decline over the same period. The two companies linked the decline to struggles in Asia, with Chinese automakers putting up stiff competition for overseas manufacturers, as Reuters reports:

Demand in China, the world’s largest auto market, is suffering from a weak economy, while foreign automakers face stiff competition from local manufacturers offering cheaper models, especially electric vehicles.

BMW sales in China fell by a third, while Mercedes fell by 13%.

Mercedes also noted a subdued global battery electric vehicle (BEV) market, reporting a 31% drop in BEV sales. For BMW, BEV sales rose 10% in the quarter.

As a result of slower sales for the two car manufacturersboth BMW and Mercedes cut their forecasts for the year. Both attributed the drop in annual targets to struggles in China, while BMW also reported that problems with brake supplier Continental were also affecting its production.

Falling sales at BMW and Mercedes followed similar struggles reported by the world’s automakers. Nissan has seen its sales decline more than five percent and Tesla missed its quarterly delivery targets in Q3 of the year.

Read more: Sales of luxury cars are falling as drivers look for cheaper options

A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik’s The Morning Shift.