Tata's Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) expects to reach its highest car sales in China this year, an optimistic hope for upmarket car manufacturers despite China's economic slowdown, the Financial Times reported.

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Despite the slump of car sales last year, JLR chief executive Ralf Speth believes China will revive its spot as the carmaker's "number one [market] in terms of volume" this year, after posting upbeat first quarter profits.

In 2014, China was JLR's top selling market but was replaced by the the United Kingdom. Speth is positive that China will reclaim its spot back from the UK partly due to China's relatively strong expansion.

Other than Speth, several analysts also shared the same views, believing that luxury car sales in China will see a faster growth rate this year compared with mass market units.

However, despite the potential increase of demand, the luxury car industry is at risk of overcrowding.

"Everyone wants to become premium - but the premium market is not growing fast. To make it in the segment now you have to grab market share from someone else," Clemens Wasner from EFS Consulting said.=

Audi is known as "the officials' car" because it is largely used by government officials. It experienced a slump in car sales this year, reporting only a 4.2 percent increase on the first quarter compared to 10.5 percent during the same period in 2015.

But the firm is still rooting for China, noting that young consumers will define Audi's future. "Our history as an official's car has changed tremendously," Audi president Joachim Wedler said. 

Other car manufactureres are also looking for a chance to gamble in the Chinese market. For instance, Ford's luxury brand Lincoln quickly gained from zero to 37 dealerships in just 18 months. It targets to reach 60 by the end of 2016.

"China as a market is going to pass the US as the number one luxury market in the next few years," Kumar Galhotra, Lincoln's retaliation president, said. 

Tagsjaguar land rover, Jaguar Land Rover China, audi, upmarket cars, luxury cars, china