Cui Dongshu: China's auto imports in August were 23,000 units, down 51% year-on-year.

Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the China Passenger Car Association, wrote that in August 2026, imported cars totaled 23,000 units, down 51% year-on-year and down 48% month-on-month, an alarming decline. From January to August 2026, imported cars totaled 270,000 units, down 17% year-on-year. From January to August 2026, imported sedans accounted for 49% of imported passenger cars, but in August the import share fell to 38%; imported passenger vehicles with fewer than 9 seats performed relatively well, accounting for 24% from January to August 2026; imported four-wheel-drive SUVs accounted for 25% of imports this year, and in August rebounded to 46% of passenger car imports. From January to August 2026, imported hybrids performed very well with an 8% increase, pure electric passenger cars fell 37%, and plug-in hybrids fell 62%, with imported new energy passenger vehicles performing relatively weakly. In August, the downward pressure on imported cars remained relatively heavy. The top 10 countries by imports in August 2026 were: Germany 7,393 units, the United States 4,972 units, Slovakia 3,645 units, the United Kingdom 2,366 units, Japan 2,173 units, Mexico 681 units, Italy 335 units, Austria 306 units, Thailand 246 units, and Poland 67 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increases compared with the same period were: the United States 2,070 units, Mexico 258 units, Thailand 246 units, Thailand 246 units, and Austria 124 units. The top 10 countries by imports from January to August 2026 were: Japan 129,253 units, Germany 59,183 units, the United States 27,559 units, Slovakia 19,004 units, the United Kingdom 16,315 units, Mexico 4,156 units, Austria 3,838 units, Thailand 2,260 units, Italy 696 units, and Sweden 675 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increases compared with the same period were: Japan 3,825 units, Thailand 2,021 units, Austria 1,841 units, Mexico 1,269 units, and China 530 units. Against the backdrop of continued decline in imported cars in recent years, in August 2026 Lexus's retail share in the imported luxury car market was 44.6%, about 7 percentage points higher than 37.6% in 2025. BMW, Porsche, and Land Rover performed relatively better overall. Overall demand in the domestic and imported luxury car market is relatively weak, with relatively heavy pressure in the luxury car markets of traditionally affluent regions such as Beijing, Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. I. Overall Trend of China's Auto Imports 1. Characteristics of Auto Import Growth After imported cars peaked at 1.43 million units in 2014, the market declined. Import growth stabilized and improved slightly in 2016-2017, and has continued to decline since 2018. In 2024, the import scale continued to shrink sharply, with full-year imports of only 700,000 units, down 12% year-on-year. In 2025, imported cars totaled 480,000 units, down 32% year-on-year, with relatively heavy pressure from the continued shrinkage of imported cars. From January to August 2026, imported cars totaled 270,000 units, down 17% year-on-year. Even from a low base, the decline in imported car volume in 2026 remained relatively severe. In August 2026, imported cars totaled 23,000 units, down 51% year-on-year and down 48% month-on-month, an alarming decline. From January to August 2026, imported cars totaled 270,000 units, down 17% year-on-year. Early 2026 was still a relatively good January-August performance rarely seen recently, mainly due to the low base at the end of 2025. However, because the base in January 2025 was low, although transportation was disrupted by the war between the United States and Iran, the overall decline in imported cars in 2026 was relatively small. With the rise of domestic cars and the acceleration of localization by international brands, auto imports have remained sluggish in recent years, with imported cars posting negative growth for three consecutive years. If fluctuations are smoothed out, this is eight consecutive years of negative growth. 2. Monthly Trend of Complete Vehicle Imports The decline in imports in early 2025 was alarming. As Sino-U.S. trade became gradually more predictable, imported cars gradually rebounded in 2025, reaching a new high for the year in July. However, with the rise of self-owned high-end brands, imported cars remained sluggish from August to November, and fell abnormally in December 2025, driving growth in January 2026. The sharp plunge in imports in August 2026 was due to the dramatic decline in imports from Japan. The fuel vehicle market returned to a dull, gently declining trend. 3. Structural Characteristics of Complete Vehicle Imports Since 2019, all types of imported models have declined across the board. Traditional trucks are currently showing an obvious rapid decline. In August 2026, passenger car imports were lower than demand, and inventories declined somewhat. In this year's auto import structure, passenger cars accounted for an absolute dominant position of more than 99%. If pickups among light trucks are included, the share of passenger cars is even higher. From January to August 2026, imported sedans accounted for 49% of imported passenger cars, but in August the import share fell to 38%; imported passenger vehicles with fewer than 9 seats performed relatively well, accounting for 24% from January to August 2026; imported four-wheel-drive SUVs accounted for 25% of imports this year, and in August rebounded to 46% of passenger car imports; while unlisted motor vehicles accounted for 1% of imports. The performance of commercial vehicle imports in 2026 was average, especially with little decline in light truck imports, and recent imported pickup trucks were also very weak. 4. Structural Characteristics of Complete New Energy Vehicle Imports From 2021 to 2023, imported new energy passenger vehicles achieved sustained high growth, followed by a sharp decline in 2025. From January to August 2026, imported hybrids performed very well with an 8% increase, pure electric passenger cars fell 37%, and plug-in hybrids fell 62%, with imported new energy passenger vehicles performing relatively weakly. The traditional fuel imported passenger car market rebounded relatively strongly, and the share of hybrids rebounded. The share of gasoline trucks declined, related to tractor demand. In 2026, the import performance of high-end gasoline pickups was relatively poor. Recently, the domestic new energy pickup market has performed relatively strongly, but the imported pure electric pickup market has performed relatively poorly. In 2024, new energy vehicles accounted for 3% of imported passenger cars. From January to August 2026, the share of imported new energy vehicles fell to 2%, with pure electric vehicles falling sharply from last year, and fuel passenger cars remaining the absolute mainstay. The proportion of gasoline vehicles among trucks remains relatively high, while pure electric trucks declined dramatically. 5. Structural Characteristics of Passenger Car Engine Displacement Imports Imported passenger car models are concentrated in gasoline models below 2 liters. Last year, 3-4 liter models were relatively resilient, and this year 1.5-2 liter models are relatively better. Imported passenger car models are concentrated in gasoline models below 2 liters, accounting for more than half of total imported vehicle volume from January to August 2026, roughly flat compared with last year. Imported hybrid models show an obvious trend of shifting from 2.5 liters to 1.5 liters. II. Auto Import Market Landscape 1. Import Characteristics by Country China's passenger car imports are still centered on Germany, Slovakia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and others. Recently, Japan's import performance has changed dramatically, with Japanese car imports suffering a relatively large loss in August. 2. Monthly Trend of Complete Vehicle Imports In August, the downward pressure on imported cars remained relatively heavy. The top 10 countries by imports in August 2026 were: Germany 7,393 units, the United States 4,972 units, Slovakia 3,645 units, the United Kingdom 2,366 units, Japan 2,173 units, Mexico 681 units, Italy 335 units, Austria 306 units, Thailand 246 units, and Poland 67 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increases compared with the same period were: the United States 2,070 units, Mexico 258 units, Thailand 246 units, Thailand 246 units, and Austria 124 units. The top 10 countries by imports from January to August 2026 were: Japan 129,253 units, Germany 59,183 units, the United States 27,559 units, Slovakia 19,004 units, the United Kingdom 16,315 units, Mexico 4,156 units, Austria 3,838 units, Thailand 2,260 units, Italy 696 units, and Sweden 675 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increases compared with the same period were: Japan 3,825 units, Thailand 2,021 units, Austria 1,841 units, Mexico 1,269 units, and China 530 units. 3. Country Characteristics of Complete New Energy Vehicle Imports In 2025, domestic cars were highly competitive, and new energy vehicle imports from major importing countries fell 50%. In 2026, pressure on imported new energy passenger vehicles further intensified. German imported cars performed very poorly, and Japanese and American imported new energy vehicles had basically no sales. III. Auto Market Sales Landscape 1. Overall Sales of Imported Cars Imported car sales from January to August were slightly below last year's trend, with a smaller decline than in previous years. Imported fuel vehicles performed relatively well at the beginning of the year, sales were relatively poor in the second quarter, and the trend continued downward in August. Due to the strength of China's self-owned automakers, imported car sales performance has continued to deteriorate and is also weaker than the domestic luxury car market trend. From 2022 to 2024, imported car sales hovered between 800,000 and 900,000 units, with market pressure gradually increasing. In 2025, compulsory traffic insurance data for imported cars was 540,000 units, down 33% year-on-year. Due to the boost from the low base in early 2025, imported car retail sales from January to August this year were 250,000 units, a relatively poor performance with a 32% decline. In August, sales fell to 27,000 units, a very poor performance with a 38% decline, and future pressure remains heavy. 2. Brand Characteristics of Imported Cars In the past few years, imported ultra-luxury cars continued to grow, but since 2023 there has been a relatively large decline, accelerating in 2024, and the decline from January to August 2026 remained relatively severe. The trend of ultra-luxury cars has shown huge fluctuations. In 2025, Maserati's trend was generally abnormally high, and it fell back in 2026. Bentley and Rolls-Royce trends were sluggish but returned to their leading position in ultra-luxury. Lamborghini and Ferrari performed relatively firmly. Ultra-luxury overall weakened, reflecting a temporary slowdown in the purchasing power of ultra-high-end consumer groups. The abnormal ultra-luxury car sales brought about by earlier sell-offs have seen market prices return reasonably. At present, imported cars mainly rely on demand for luxury cars, while non-luxury imported cars are shrinking sharply. The share of mainstream imported luxury cars among imported cars has increased significantly. Joint venture brand imported cars are shrinking rapidly, and some brands such as European Volkswagen imported cars are shrinking sharply. In 2025, Lexus's imported insurance retail data was 184,000 units, up 2% year-on-year, with a share of 37.6% of imported luxury cars. Lexus's 2025 sales were also higher than its 2022 sales, after maintaining a level of 180,000 units for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. In August 2026, Lexus's retail share in the imported luxury car market was 44.6%, about 7 percentage points higher than 37.6% in 2025. BMW, Porsche, and Land Rover performed relatively better overall. 3. Regional Change Characteristics of Imported Ultra-Luxury Car Brands Overall demand in the imported ultra-luxury car market is relatively weak. Tianjin remains first in ultra-luxury, while Beijing has recently declined relatively sharply. The imported ultra-luxury car markets in traditionally affluent regions such as Beijing, Xi'an, Suzhou, Xiamen, and Fuzhou are under relatively heavy pressure. The impact of new energy vehicles on ultra-luxury is reflected. Due to the shrinkage of the ultra-luxury market, overall demand is poor and pressure on the pricing system is heavy. 4. Regional Change Characteristics of Luxury Cars Overall demand in the domestic and imported luxury car market is relatively weak, with relatively heavy pressure in the luxury car markets of traditionally affluent regions such as Beijing, Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. This year, oil-producing regions in the north and central and western regions such as Xinjiang and Shandong were relatively strong.