Cui Dongshu: 290,000 imported vehicles from January to September 2026, down 20% year-on-year.

Cui Dongshu of the China Passenger Car Association wrote that in September 2026, 21,000 imported vehicles were imported, down 49% year-on-year and down 6% month-on-month, an alarming decline. From January to September 2026, 290,000 vehicles were imported, down 20% year-on-year. In this year's vehicle import structure, passenger vehicles account for an absolute dominant position of over 99%; if pickups among light trucks are included, the share of passenger vehicles is even higher. From January to September 2026, imports of hybrid vehicles performed very well with a 15% increase, while pure electric passenger vehicles fell 27% and plug-in hybrids fell 54, indicating weak performance of imported new energy passenger vehicles. Imported passenger vehicle models are concentrated in gasoline models with displacement below 2 liters. Last year, 3-4 liter models showed better resilience, while this year 1.5-2 liter models are relatively better. In September, imported vehicles still faced considerable downward pressure. The top 10 countries by import volume in September 2026 were: Japan 7,399 units, Germany 7,255 units, the United Kingdom 2,488 units, Slovakia 1,418 units, Mexico 818 units, the United States 791 units, Austria 355 units, Belgium 112 units, South Korea 95 units, and Italy 90 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increase compared with the same period were: Mexico 307 units, Austria 107 units, Belgium 42 units, South Korea 41 units, and France 16 units. The top 10 countries by import volume from January to September 2026 were: Japan 136,652 units, Germany 66,438 units, the United States 28,350 units, Slovakia 20,422 units, the United Kingdom 18,803 units, Mexico 4,974 units, Austria 4,193 units, Thailand 2,270 units, Italy 786 units, and South Korea 760 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increase compared with the same period were: Thailand 2,027 units, Austria 1,948 units, Mexico 1,576 units, China 540 units, and South Africa 373 units. From January to September this year, retail sales of imported vehicles were 280,000 units, down 32%, a poor performance; in September they fell to 29,000 units, down 39%, a very poor performance, and future pressure remains high. Overall demand in the domestic and imported luxury car markets is relatively weak, with the luxury car markets in traditionally affluent regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen under greater pressure. This year, oil-producing regions in the north and central and western regions such as Xinjiang and Shandong were relatively strong. I. Overall Trend of China's Vehicle Imports 1. Characteristics of Vehicle Import Growth After reaching a peak of 1.43 million vehicles in 2014, imports declined. In 2016-2017, import growth stabilized and improved slightly. Since 2018, imports have continued to decline. In 2024, the import scale continued to shrink sharply, with only 700,000 vehicles imported for the year, down 12% year-on-year. In 2025, 480,000 imported vehicles were imported, down 32% year-on-year, and the pressure of continuous contraction in imported vehicles is considerable. From January to September 2026, 290,000 imported vehicles were imported, down 20% year-on-year. Even on a low base, the decline in imported vehicle volume in 2026 remains relatively sharp. In September 2026, 21,000 imported vehicles were imported, down 49% year-on-year and down 6% month-on-month, an alarming decline. From January to September 2026, 290,000 imported vehicles were imported, down 20% year-on-year. The relatively good performance from January to September 2026, rare in the recent period, was mainly due to the low base at the end of 2025. However, because the January 2025 base was low, although transport was disrupted by the US-Iran war, the overall decline in imported vehicles in 2026 was relatively small. With the rise of domestic brands and the acceleration of localization by international brands, vehicle imports have remained sluggish in recent years, with imported vehicles posting negative growth for three consecutive years; smoothing out fluctuations, this is the eighth consecutive year of negative growth. 2. Monthly Trend of Complete Vehicle Imports At the beginning of 2025, the decline in imports was alarming. As China-US trade gradually became more predictable, imported vehicles gradually recovered in 2025, reaching a new high for the year in July. However, with the rise of self-owned high-end brands, imported vehicles remained sluggish from August to November, and fell abnormally in December 2025, driving growth in January 2026. The sharp drop in imports in August-September 2026 was due to the dramatic decline in imports from Japan. The fuel vehicle market has returned to a dull, flat downward trend. 3. Structural Characteristics of Complete Vehicle Imports Since 2019, all types of imported models have declined across the board. In September 2026, imports of passenger vehicles were less than demand, and inventories declined somewhat. Traditional trucks are currently showing an obvious rapid decline. In this year's vehicle import structure, passenger vehicles account for an absolute dominant position of over 99%; if pickups among light trucks are included, the share of passenger vehicles is even higher. Among passenger vehicles from January to September 2026, imported sedans accounted for 49%, but in September the import share was 47%; imported small passenger vehicles with fewer than 9 seats accounted for 24%, a relatively good performance; this year, imported four-wheel-drive SUVs accounted for 26% of imports, recovering to 32% of passenger vehicle imports in September; and unlisted motor vehicles accounted for 1% of imports. The performance of commercial vehicle imports in 2026 was average; in particular, the decline in light truck imports was not large, and recent imported pickups were also very weak. 4. Structural Characteristics of Complete Vehicle Imports of New Energy Vehicles From 2021 to 2023, imported new energy passenger vehicles achieved sustained high growth, followed by a sharp decline in 2025. From January to September 2026, imports of hybrid vehicles performed very well with a 15% increase, while pure electric passenger vehicles fell 27% and plug-in hybrids fell 54%, indicating weak performance of imported new energy passenger vehicles. The market for traditionally fueled imported passenger vehicles rebounded considerably, and the share of hybrids rose. Meanwhile, the share of gasoline trucks declined, related to demand for tractors. In 2026, imports of high-end gasoline pickups performed poorly. 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 vehicles; from January to September 2026, the share of imported new energy vehicles fell to 1.2%, with pure electric vehicles falling sharply from last year, and fuel passenger vehicles remaining the absolute mainstay. The proportion of gasoline vehicles among trucks remains relatively high, while pure electric trucks have declined dramatically. 5. Structural Characteristics of Engine Displacement of Complete Passenger Vehicle Imports Imported passenger vehicle models are concentrated in gasoline models with displacement below 2 liters. Last year, 3-4 liter models showed better resilience, while this year 1.5-2 liter models are relatively better. Imported passenger vehicle models are concentrated in gasoline models with displacement below 2 liters, which from January to September 2026 accounted for more than half of total vehicle imports, basically flat from last year. Imported hybrid models show an obvious trend of shifting from 2.5 liters to 1.5 liters. II. Vehicle Import Market Landscape 1. Import Characteristics by Country China's passenger vehicle imports are still centered on Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, the United States, and other core countries. Recently, imports from Japan have shown dramatic changes, with Japanese vehicle imports suffering a major loss in August. 2. Monthly Trend of Complete Vehicle Imports In September, imported vehicles still faced considerable downward pressure. The top 10 countries by import volume in September 2026 were: Japan 7,399 units, Germany 7,255 units, the United Kingdom 2,488 units, Slovakia 1,418 units, Mexico 818 units, the United States 791 units, Austria 355 units, Belgium 112 units, South Korea 95 units, and Italy 90 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increase compared with the same period were: Mexico 307 units, Austria 107 units, Belgium 42 units, South Korea 41 units, and France 16 units. The top 10 countries by import volume from January to September 2026 were: Japan 136,652 units, Germany 66,438 units, the United States 28,350 units, Slovakia 20,422 units, the United Kingdom 18,803 units, Mexico 4,974 units, Austria 4,193 units, Thailand 2,270 units, Italy 786 units, and South Korea 760 units. Among them, the top five with the largest increase compared with the same period were: Thailand 2,027 units, Austria 1,948 units, Mexico 1,576 units, China 540 units, and South Africa 373 units. 3. Country Characteristics of Complete Vehicle Imports of New Energy Vehicles In 2025, domestic vehicles were highly competitive, and new energy vehicle imports from the main importing countries fell 67%. In 2026, imported new energy passenger vehicles still face considerable pressure; German imported vehicles performed very poorly, and imports of new energy vehicles from Japan and the United States had basically no sales. III. Vehicle Market Sales Landscape 1. Overall Sales of Imported Vehicles Imported vehicle sales from January to September were slightly lower than 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 poor in the second quarter, and the trend continued downward in September. As Chinese self-owned automakers are strong, imported vehicle sales performance continues to deteriorate and is also weaker than the domestic luxury car market trend. From 2022 to 2024, imported vehicle sales hovered around 800,000-900,000 units, with market pressure gradually increasing. In 2025, compulsory traffic insurance data for imported vehicles was 540,000 units, down 33% year-on-year. Driven by the low base at the beginning of 2025, retail sales of imported vehicles from January to September this year were 280,000 units, down 32%, a poor performance; in September they fell to 29,000 units, down 39%, a very poor performance, and future pressure remains high. 2. Brand Characteristics of Imported Vehicles In the past few years, imported ultra-luxury cars continued to grow, but since 2023 there has been a major decline, with an accelerated decline in 2024, and the decline from January to September 2026 remains severe. The ultra-luxury trend has shown huge fluctuations; Maserati's trend in 2025 was generally abnormally high and fell back in 2026. Bentley and Rolls-Royce have shown sluggish trends but have returned to their leading position in ultra-luxury. Lamborghini and Ferrari have remained relatively firm. The overall weakening of ultra-luxury reflects a temporary slowdown in the purchasing power of ultra-high-end consumer groups; the abnormal sales of ultra-luxury cars brought about by earlier sell-offs have seen market prices return reasonably. Currently, imported vehicles are mainly supported by demand for luxury cars, while non-luxury imported vehicles are shrinking sharply. The share of mainstream imported luxury cars among imported vehicles has increased significantly. Imports of joint venture brand vehicles are shrinking rapidly, and imports of some brands such as Volkswagen's European imports 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, and Lexus's 2025 sales were higher than its 2022 sales, after maintaining a level of 180,000 units for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. In September 2026, Lexus's luxury car market share was 8.3%, about 0.4 percentage points higher than 7.9% in 2025. BMW, Porsche, and Land Rover performed relatively slightly better overall. 3. Regional Change Characteristics of Imported Ultra-Luxury Car Brands Overall demand in the imported ultra-luxury car market is relatively weak. Shanghai ranks first in ultra-luxury, Tianjin's imported vehicles are relatively strong, and Beijing has recently seen a relatively large decline. The imported ultra-luxury car markets in traditionally affluent regions such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Suzhou are under greater pressure. The impact of new energy vehicles on ultra-luxury is evident; as the ultra-luxury market shrinks, overall market demand is poor and pressure on the pricing system is high. 4. Regional Change Characteristics of Luxury Cars Overall demand in the domestic and imported luxury car markets is relatively weak, with the luxury car markets in traditionally affluent regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen under greater pressure. This year, oil-producing regions in the north and central and western regions such as Xinjiang and Shandong were relatively strong.