China Jan.-Feb. auto import volume fall 11.3% over a year earlier

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- For the first two months of 2020, China imported a total of 136,000 vehicles, posting a year-on-year decline of 11.3% due to the coronavirus outbreak and the Spring Festival, according to Sinomach Automobile Co.,Ltd., China's largest dealer of imported vehicles.

The supply decrease is more attributable to importer's adjustment resulting from their expectation on domestic economy’s downward pressure and the falling market demands than the impact of overseas pandemic, said Sinomach.

During the same period, the sales volume of imported vehicles in China slumped 37.5% from the year-ago period to roughly 99,000 units, of which around 10,000 units were sold in February, a year-on-year plunge of 76.1%.

Affected by the viral spread and the transformation to the China Ⅵ emission standard, the Jan.-Feb. import volume of parallel-import vehicles amounted to 6,023 units, tumbling 64.5% over a year earlier.

(Lexus ES, photo source: Lexus China)

There were 98,527 PVs among the imported vehicles sold in China from Jan. to Feb., 37.5% less than that of the prior-year period. The volume of cars, SUVs, MPVs reached 36,261 units (-38.9%), 58,352 units (-37.4%) and 3,914 units (-23.4%).

BMW outsold other imported auto brands in Jan.-Feb. sales volume. The German premium brand saw its imported vehicle sales decline 29.6% to 17,949 units in China, followed by Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. The occupants of the fourth to tenth places were Toyota, Porsche, Land Rover, Lincoln, Audi, Volkswagen and MINI. Of them, Toyota posted the smallest decrease of 9.7%.

With 2,760 units sold, Lexus was honored the champion by Feb. imported vehicle sales. Hit by the coronavirus, the top 10 brands all faced sales plunge topping 55% from the previous year.

For the Jan.-Feb. period, vehicles with emissions of 1.5 to 2.0 liters accounted for 44.2% of total imported vehicle sales, 2 percentage points lowered than that of 2019. Share of the products with emissions of 1.0 liter or below decreased 3.4 percentage points over the last year’s annual level, mainly due to the steep year-on-year decline in NEV sales.