In China, the equation that "European high-end brands are the best" is breaking down. Homegrown Chinese brands are quickly filling the gap. A $170,000 (about 258 million won) electric sedan made by Chinese corporations goes toe-to-toe with Mercedes-Benz's top-of-the-line Maybach. A homegrown Chinese perfume sells for 980 yuan (about 219,000 won for 30 ml), more expensive than Chanel No. 5.
On the 25th, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Chinese corporations Huawei and JAC Motors unveiled the latest model S800 of the premium sedan series Luxeed. The Luxeed S800 is called the Rolls-Royce of China. With a 40-inch screen, 40 speakers inside the cabin, and a feature that lets you open the door with a fist-clenching gesture like a smartphone, it offers showy experiences that legacy European car brands have not provided.
The base model without the large screen starts at $104,000 (about 158 million won). That is about half the starting price of the Mercedes-Benz Maybach sedan line. Even the top trim with all options added is around $173,000 (about 263 million won). That is about half the price of a base Rolls-Royce sold in the United States. Thomas Luke, a McKinsey alumnus and automotive consultant, told the WSJ, "They have rolled out a car packed with every feature at a very reasonable price," adding, "It is clearly throwing down the gauntlet to the Maybach and BMW 7 Series."
The Luxeed series surpassed a cumulative 17,000 deliveries within one year of launch after May 2025. According to Huawei, as of April, one out of every three premium cars sold in China was a Luxeed. The New York Times (NYT), citing lawyer Li Maozai, who bought a Luxeed, said, "This car has changed Chinese people's old belief that only BMW, Benz, and Audi are luxury cars." Huawei plans to roll out a new ultra-luxury model next month priced close to $300,000 (about 456 million won).
The trend of preferring homegrown Chinese brands in the premium segment is evident beyond cars, extending into everyday life such as cosmetics and apparel. Chinese makeup brand Mao Geping combines Chinese facial structures with traditional aesthetics and competes with Dior and Armani Beauty on the first floor of department stores. The brand posted 3.88469 billion yuan (about 870.2 billion won) in sales in 2024, growing 2.5 times in three years. It is the only homegrown brand among the top 15 premium beauty corporations in China tallied by global market research firm Frost & Sullivan. Documents, a Chinese brand standing out in perfume, sells some products where a small 30 ml bottle costs 980 yuan, making it more expensive than Chanel No. 5 in China on a unit-price basis. The brand commercialized scents of Chinese gardens, tea, and temples instead of the typical French-style perfumery approach.
In high-end apparel, ICICLE (ICICLE) has staked its bet on natural materials and minimalist design instead of logos. The brand's cashmere coats are 8,000–20,000 yuan (about 1.79 million–4.48 million won) per piece, placing them in the high-price range in the Korean market as well. Even so, its annual sales in China surpassed 3 billion yuan (about 672 billion won). Since 2023, after the pandemic, it has posted double-digit sales growth every year. In handbags, Songmont ranked No. 1 on Tmall, the premium channel during Alibaba's Singles Day, beating the well-known American brand Coach. Another homegrown Chinese brand, Trugen, ranked third. Songmont sells minimalist leather bags for around $500 (about 760,000 won). Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH (LVMH), the world's largest luxury group, personally toured a Songmont store during his visit to Shanghai.
As homegrown Chinese brands gain strength, foreign high-end brands have seen their results shrink rapidly. According to consulting firm Bain & Company, China's mainland personal luxury market fell by around 18% in 2024. It also decreased an additional 3–5% last year. Brands in the "masstige" segment—mass-market luxury that maintains core high-end elements of quality and design while offering relatively lower prices—were hit particularly hard. Only areas with irreplaceable scarcity, such as Hermes' top-tier leather goods or Van Cleef & Arpels, maintained competitiveness.
Kering Group, Gucci's parent company, saw 2024 revenue drop 12% and recurring operating profit fall 46%. At Gucci alone, revenue decreased 23%. Burberry's adjusted operating profit for fiscal 2025 plunged 94% to 26 million pounds from 418 million pounds a year earlier. Richemont, Cartier's parent company, saw its China sales fall 23% last year. The shock in the auto market is even greater. Porsche's operating margin for January–September 2025 plunged from 14.1% to 0.2%. Porsche plans to close half of its dealerships in China by the end of the year.
The NYT, citing a venture capital insider, said, "For decades, Western high-end brands held narrative power in the luxury consumer market, but today Chinese consumers no longer look up to Western culture." A report released in 2024 by the Hurun Research Institute shows that 78% of China's wealthy prefer "unique cultural experiences" over global chains when staying at hotels. Cheng Baohua, founder of homegrown handbag brand Trugen, said, "In the past, we were puppets of Western brand marketing," adding, "Consumers with higher levels of education have undergone an ideological awakening." The brand did not stress exclusivity like "let's favor Chinese-made products," but instead won empathy by producing a documentary about the lives of women workers at leather factories.
Some analysts say the surge of high-end Chinese domestic consumption is a structural shift that goes beyond mere patriotic buying or recession-era substitution. It is seen as entering a mature phase in which consumers move away from unconditional pursuit of foreign goods, a pattern seen in other countries during periods of economic growth, and project pride in their own culture onto consumption. In consumer behavior terms, China is now following the path Japan took after its bubble economy burst in the 1990s. In the late 1980s, Japan was a market where Louis Vuitton and Hermes bags were considered the top household priority. But entering the 1990s, it shifted to high-quality domestic brands. Toyota reimported Lexus, first introduced in the United States in 1989, back to Japan in 1997, and around the same time, MUJI, which championed minimalism, rapidly expanded its stores. The rise of Chinese brands armed with technology, materials, and domestic narratives is similar.