BERLIN, April 10 Reuters German premium carmakers took a further hit to their Chinese sales in the first quarter, data from the companies showed on Wednesday, with Porsche and MercedesBenz also struggling with supply chain troubles.

Sales in China fell 3.8 at BMW, 12 at MercedesBenz and 24 at Porsche, the companies said, indicating that efforts by authorities and automakers to jumpstart demand in the world39;s secondbiggest economy are not yet seeing results.

Porsche39;s sales in North America, down 23, were disrupted after 1,000 Porsche cars and SUVs, as well as several hundred Bentleys and several thousand Audi vehicles, were impounded by customs officials at U.S. ports because a Chinese subcomponent breached antiforced labour laws.

MercedesBenz said it also suffered from supply chain bottlenecks in Asia, but did not provide details.

Both carmakers said model changes hampered sales in the first quarter, with MercedesBenz ramping up the EClass in China and Porsche updating its Panamera and Taycan models.

Carmakers are facing a challenging year, forecasting stable or lower returns and slower sales growth as they invest in revamping their lineups to tackle growing competition against a backdrop of muted demand, especially for allelectric cars.

All three carmakers are launching a swathe of new allelectric models and updating combustion engine offerings as they battle to revive auto sales still below prepandemic levels and tackle competition from China and elsewhere….