German carmakers’ sales collapsed further in China during the second quarter as a protracted slowdown in the world’s biggest car market cranked up the pressure on legacy brands in a bruising battle with local competitors.Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW all saw a drop of at least 30% in the April to June period in China, according to company sales data.On Friday Volkswagen reported the steepest year-on-year decline at 36.6%.“The situation remains challenging in China, where we were unable to escape the overall market decline of about 20% despite initial positive momentum from our newly launched, locally developed electric vehicles (EVs) there,” said Volkswagen sales executive Marco Schubert.BYD Dolphin Surf electric cars. Picture: (Annegret Hilse) Pinning hopes on new productsVolkswagen was unseated by Chinese EV heavyweight BYD as the market’s top-selling carmaker in 2024, but the German company briefly wrested back its crown at the start of the year as it embarked on an EV-heavy product offensive in the country.This brief respite was attributed to fading subsidies for greener cars in China.German brands built their success in China on combustion engine heritage, which analysts and industry observers said no longer resonates with young, tech-savvy Chinese consumers.Last month, BMW slashed its 2026 guidance in its third China-related profit warning in less than three years.It also said the Middle East war was driving up fuel prices and impacting Chinese consumer demand for the combustion engine models on which it heavily relies in that market.BMW is one of the big German carmakers updating its product offerings in China with EVs more tailored to the region. Picture: (Lennart Preiss/Getty Images) Models tailored to the regionLike Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes are also updating their product offerings in China with EVs they say are more tailored to the region.“They’re trying to play catch-up at a very rapid pace, while their competition is running at twice the speed,” said Paul Bennett, managing partner at advisory firm Madox Square.Car sales in China fell for a ninth consecutive month in June, prompting carmakers to increasingly turn to export markets, including Europe.Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW were unable to offset their losses in China in other regions during the second quarter, recording global sales declines of 8.6%, 8%, and 4.9%, respectively.Reuters