AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/25 Report--

On September 24, the passenger Association announced domestic car import sales in August and August 2024. According to the data, car imports in August were 76000, up 2% from the same period last year, and 8% month-on-month growth. From January to August, car import sales totaled 480000, down 2% from the same period last year, with three consecutive years of negative growth.

Let's first take a look at the major countries. in August this year, the top three countries of import volume were Japan, Germany and Slovakia, respectively, with import sales of 29400, 18900 and 10100 respectively, of which Slovakia soared 114% year on year. The United States, which has long ranked in the top three, fell to fourth place, 8300 vehicles, down 27% from the same period last year. For comparison, the top three in the same period last year were Germany, Japan and the United States, with imported car sales of 22600, 17800 and 12000 respectively.

The top 10 included the UK, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Mexico and Belgium. Among them, Hungary surged 653 per cent from the same period last year, making it the country with the highest increase on the list, but its sales accounted for a low proportion of 1200 vehicles, while the UK, Sweden, Austria and Mexico all showed varying degrees of decline, down 18 per cent, 4 per cent, 12 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.

From the perspective of sales performance in the previous August, Japan, Germany and the United States are still the countries with relatively good performance of imported cars, with cumulative sales of 147100, 128800 and 77100 respectively in the first eight months, but the latter both showed year-on-year declines of 19% and 1% respectively, while Japan increased by 26% year-on-year.

Next, let's take a look at the sales performance of major brands. in August, the top three imported brands were Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, with sales of 15800, 10600 and 5200 respectively, followed by Porsche and Land Rover with 4900 and 3900, Audi with 3600, Volvo, MINI and Lincoln with 1300, 644 and 50 respectively.

From January to August this year, Lexus topped the list with sales of 117700 vehicles, up 12 per cent from a year earlier, making it the highest-growing brand on the list. Other brands in the top three included BMW and Mercedes-Benz, with 104600 and 88200 respectively, but both fell 15 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Porsche and Audi ranked in the top five, with imported car sales of 36000 and 35700 respectively, down 34 per cent and 11 per cent respectively from a year earlier, with Porsche second only to the Lincoln brand, which fell 39 per cent to 10300 vehicles, with the biggest decline on the list. In addition, three brands, including Land Rover, Volvo and MINI, also made the list, with sales of 32700, 12100 and 10000 respectively, with the first two falling 5 per cent and 17 per cent respectively, up 7 per cent from a year earlier.

Let's take a look at the sales performance of imported ultra-luxury brands. Sales of imported ultra-luxury brands in August were 380 vehicles, down 58% from a year earlier. Among the brands, Bentley sold 153 vehicles, while Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Maserati all had double-digit sales of 76, 44, 36, 35 and 31, respectively. McLaren has only five.

From January to August this year, sales in China, including Bentley, Maserati, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and McLaren, all fell by more than double digits, with McLaren plunging 88% and Maserati down 74% from a year earlier.

As an ultra-luxury brand, it has shown a sustained growth trend over the past few years, but has declined since 2023 and accelerated in the first eight months of this year, falling 49 per cent to 4291 vehicles from a year earlier. For comparison, it fell 12 per cent year-on-year to 11900 in the same period. At present, domestic ultra-luxury car brands are generally facing the problem of declining sales. As for the reasons for the decline in sales, industry people believe that it is mainly related to the price war in the domestic car market and the intensification of competition in the new car market. In this context, consumers tend to buy cars more practical and rational. The Federation also said that the overall weakness of ultra-luxury reflects a temporary slowdown in the purchasing power of ultra-high-end consumers, or a shift to the domestic high-end.

According to the latest report, Rolls-Royce will launch two new all-electric models, the Positioning car and the SUV, of which the SUV is expected to be released in early 2027; the all-electric car is expected to go on sale by the end of 2028 and will replace the Phantom as the new flagship.

Generally speaking, the current domestic imported cars mainly rely on the demand support of luxury cars, while the overall trend of ultra-luxury is weak. In addition, imported cars of joint venture brands are shrinking rapidly, including Toyota, Volkswagen, Subaru and other brands. It is worth mentioning that in the face of changes and competition in the domestic market, as the support of domestic imported cars, luxury car brands also need to adjust their strategies as soon as possible to adapt to the changes in the market.

Looking back on past development, domestic imported car sales once reached the level of 1 million, but now it is a different story. After domestic imported car sales fell 10% year on year to 800000 in 2023, imported car sales are still declining this year. The federation said that the traffic insurance data for imported cars in the first eight months of this year was 500000, down 15% from the same period last year. Due to the promotion of a low base, retail sales of imported cars in the first eight months were general, and the pressure is still great in the future.

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