China imports over 1m vehicles over first three quarters of 2014

Over the course of the first three quarters of 2014, China imported a total of 1.05 million automobiles, the National Business Daily reported today. The figure represents year-on-year growth of 26.2 percent. An average of 110,000 vehicles are imported by the country on a monthly basis.

The fastest growing imported automobile brands in September were Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jeep, Toyota and Subaru. Respective year-on-year growth rates for these five brands were 44 percent, 40.9 percent, 53.4 percent, 46.9 percent and 30.8 percent. All of these brands, with the exception of Mercedes-Benz, have been relying mainly or exclusively on sales of SUV models. China imported a total of 655,000 SUVs over the first nine months of the year, representing year-on-year growth of 29.3 percent. By comparison, year-on-year growth for imported SUVs for the first three quarters of 2013 was only 13 percent.

By comparison, import sedan and minivan volumes for the first nine months of this year totaled 347,000 units and 41,000 units, respectively. Year-on-year growth rates for these two vehicle types totaled 22.8 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively.

However, as imported automobiles continue to grow, actual demand for these vehicles has been slowing down. According to statistics, 866,000 imported automobile providers were registered over the first eight months of the year, up 20.5 percent from the previous year. Year-on-year sales growth rates for imported automobiles have been even lower, decreasing from 17.15 percent in May to 14.26 percent in June and to 10.88 percent in July. In August, import automobile sales reached a record low of 93,000 units, representing negative year-on-year growth of 2.4 percent.

At the same time, inventory levels for import automobile dealers are reaching critical levels. Inventory index levels reached 3.76 points in September. That figure is just a little way off from last year's high of 3.9 points.

To this end automobile dealers have been offering larger and larger promotional offers for dealers. In September sales promotions for imported automobiles reached 8.2 percent, the second highest rate this year.