(Yicai Global) March 1 -- German luxury sports car maker Porsche increased its sales in China, its biggest global market, last year while beating a downturn in the nation's passenger car sales. 

Porsche sold over 80,100 units in China, up 12 percent, while keeping the nation's position as the largest Porsche sales market for the fourth consecutive year, the China division of the Stuttgart-based firm announced at a press conference yesterday.

Vehicle sales in China diminished in 2018 for the first time in two decades, and the German car firm's annual sales growth has fallen from a peak of 24 percent in 2015.

The company will debut its first all-electric sports car Taycan this year and bring it to China in 2020. The next generation of crossover sport utility vehicle Macan will also be electrified. Porsche will invest over EUR6 billion (USD6.8 billion) by 2022 in its green goals while striving to lift the portion of new energy vehicles up to one half of total by 2025. 

The Chinese market differs from the firm's home turf at least in one way. The average Chinese Porsche buyer is a 36-year old woman or a man, 50-50, while that in Germany is likely a man aged over 50, said Jens Puttfarcken, the president and chief executive of Porsche China. 

The firm sold over 256,000 cars globally last year, up 4 percent from 2017. The US is the second-largest market with over 57,000 cars sold while Germany ranks third with 27,500 vehicles. 

Editor: Emmi Laine