According to the Zhiyuan Financial APP, Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of the Passenger Vehicle Market Association, stated that the import volume of imported vehicles in China has continuously declined at an average annual rate of about 8% from 1.24 million units in 2017 to only 0.8 million units in 2023. In 2024, the import of Autos was 0.7 million units, a year-on-year decline of 12%. From January to March 2025, the import volume was 0.095 million units, a 39% year-on-year decline, which is a significant drop for this timeframe. In March, the import of vehicles was 0.039 million units, a 27% decline, with some slight improvement.

The decline in the import of vehicles in March is under significant pressure. The top 10 countries for imports in March 2025 are: Japan 17,503 units, Germany 6,828 units, Slovakia 6,485 units, the United Kingdom 3,937 units, the USA 2,350 units, Mexico 518 units, Sweden 353 units, Austria 157 units, Poland 154 units, South Korea 153 units. The largest year-on-year increases in March compared to last year are from Slovakia 401 units, Japan 300 units, Poland 107 units, South Korea 60 units, and Belgium 29 units.

From January to March 2025, the highest imports were from Japan with 30,517 units, Germany 23,695 units, Slovakia 17,733 units, the USA 8,871 units, the United Kingdom 8,371 units, Mexico 1,443 units, Sweden 1,371 units, Austria 695 units, South Korea 359 units, and Italy 266 units. The largest year-on-year increases from January to March compared to last year are from Slovakia 1,931 units, Belgium 98 units, Poland 85 units, Vietnam 40 units, and Spain 23 units.

As China's automobile industry continues to strengthen, the transition to electrification has changed the market demand structure, leading to a continuous shrinkage in the demand for fuel vehicles and a significant decline in the demand for imported fuel vehicles. Imports of vehicles from the USA to China have rapidly decreased in recent years, from an import scale of 0.28 million units in 2017 to 0.109 million units in 2024, a considerable decline. From January to March 2025, the import of vehicles from the USA dropped to 8,870 units, a year-on-year decline of 66%; and the decline continued in March. With the ongoing complexities in international relations, it is still necessary to prepare for the future by establishing more complex import models to maintain a reasonable scale of imported vehicles and ensure the safety of the international supply chain.

一、中国汽车进口总体走势

1、汽车进口增速特征

After reaching a peak of 1.43 million imported vehicles in 2014, the numbers began to decline. The import growth rate stabilized and improved slightly in 2016-2017, but has continued to drop since 2018. In 2023, the import scale sharply decreased, with a total import of only 0.8 million vehicles for the year, a 10% year-on-year decline. The import scale will continue to sharply decrease in 2024, with an annual import of only 0.7 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 12%. Currently, from January to March 2025, imported vehicles total 0.095 million, a 39% year-on-year decline, indicating significant pressure on imported vehicles.

From January to March 2025, imported vehicles totaled 0.095 million, a 39% year-on-year decline, marking a rare dramatic drop for this period. In March alone, imports were 0.039 million, down 27%. In 2024, vehicle imports stood at 0.7 million, decreasing 12% year-on-year. With the rise of domestic vehicles and the localization of international brands accelerating, automobile imports have remained sluggish in recent years, with three consecutive years of negative growth for imports; smoothing out the fluctuations indicates a continuous seven years of negative growth.

Recently, international relations have become complex, leading to an increase in imported vehicle scale in July-August 2024 to mitigate risks, with the impacts of over-leveraging still evident from early this year.

2. Monthly trend of complete vehicle imports.

The first half of 2024 showed a normal seasonal trend, especially from June to August when imports were recovering well. As the expectations for increased tariffs on imports faded, there was a drastic decline from September to November, with considerable pressure on high-end consumption, leading many dealers to wait to reduce stock until after the tariffs are imposed. The decline in imports at the beginning of the year was astonishing, mainly due to the anticipation regarding this year's downgrade; some stabilization occurred after February.

3. Characteristics of the Imported Vehicle Structure for Autos.

The imported vehicle market from 2017 to 2019 was relatively stable. Since 2022, all types of vehicles have seen a decline. Traditional trucks saw a significant number of imports in 2023, but there is a noticeable rapid decline now. New energy heavy trucks have become a new growth point, replacing imported heavy trucks. By 2025, imports of Passenger Vehicles will be less than demand, and import volumes will recover.

This year, Passenger Vehicles account for an absolute Block Orders position of 98% in the structure of automobile imports, including 0.04 million imported sedans from January to March 2025, making up 43%; 0.027 million imported four-wheel drive SUVs, accounting for 29%; while the unnamed imported Electric Vehicles amount to 0.001 million, representing 1%. The import performance of Commercial Vehicles in 2024 is average, especially with a significant decline in light truck imports, while the imports of tractors and medium trucks are also weak. Recently, imports of pickup trucks have also been very weak.

Passenger Vehicle imports account for 98% of automotive imports. Including pickups in light trucks, the proportion of Passenger Vehicles will be even higher. This year, all imported vehicles are experiencing a downward trend, and the demand for trendy products is also not very strong.

4. Characteristics of the Imported Vehicle Structure for Electric Vehicles.

In recent years, imports of new energy Passenger Vehicles have achieved continuous high growth, but there was a dramatic decline in 2024. From January to March 2025, 1,345 pure electric Passenger Vehicles were imported, down 82%; 1,078 plug-in hybrids, down 77%, showing weak performance in imported new energy Passenger Vehicles.

The traditional fuel import market for Passenger Vehicles has seen a significant decline, while the proportion of diesel vehicles among trucks has increased, and the proportion of gasoline trucks has decreased, which is related to the demand for traction vehicles.

The import performance of high-end RBOB Gasoline pickups in 2025 has been slow. Recently, the domestic new energy Commercial Vehicle market has performed relatively strong, but the market for imported pure electric pickups has performed relatively poorly.

In 2024, the import share of New Energy in imported Passenger Vehicles reached 3.9%. From January to March 2025, the import share of Electric Vehicles dropped to 2.6%. The pure electric vehicles saw a slight decline compared to last year, while RBOB Gasoline Passenger Vehicles remain the absolute Block Orders. The proportion of gasoline vehicles among trucks is still relatively high, but the improvement in diesel vehicles is quite good.

5. Characteristics of the displacement structure of imported Passenger Vehicles.

The imported models of Passenger Vehicles mainly consist of gasoline models with a displacement of under 2 liters. Last year's 3-4 liters had good resilience, while this year's 2.5-3 liters performed well.

Imports of Passenger Vehicles were originally concentrated on gasoline models with displacement of 2 liters or less, with a share of 49% of the total gasoline vehicle imports from January to March 2025, down 4 percentage points from last year.

High-end, large-displacement models have decreased slightly slower. The sales of imported vehicles with large displacement of 2.5 to 3 liters have dropped slowly in recent years, with a rising proportion. Since the domestic market mainly features models under 2 liters, the imported 2.5 to 3-liter models face relatively little competitive pressure.

II. The structure of the Auto import market

1. Import characteristics by country

The countries from which China imports Passenger Vehicles are still primarily Japan, Germany, Slovakia, and the USA, with a significant recent increase in imports from Slovakia and growing import pressure from the USA.

2. Monthly trend of complete vehicle imports.

In March, the pressure on imported vehicles significantly decreased. The top 10 countries for imports in March 2025 are: Japan 17,503 units, Germany 6,828 units, Slovakia 6,485 units, the United Kingdom 3,937 units, the USA 2,350 units, Mexico 518 units, Sweden 353 units, Austria 157 units, Poland 154 units, South Korea 153 units. The largest year-on-year growth in March compared to last March was from Slovakia 401 units, Japan 300 units, Poland 107 units, South Korea 60 units, and Belgium 29 units. The number of vehicles imported from the USA in March was 2,350 units, a year-on-year decrease of 68% and a month-on-month decrease of 46% compared to February.

From January to March 2025, the highest number of imported vehicles was from Japan 30,517 units, Germany 23,695 units, Slovakia 17,733 units, the USA 8,871 units, the United Kingdom 8,371 units, Mexico 1,443 units, Sweden 1,371 units, Austria 695 units, South Korea 359 units, and Italy 266 units. The largest year-on-year increase from January to March compared to last year was from Slovakia 1,931 units, Belgium 98 units, Poland 85 units, Vietnam 40 units, and Spain 23 units. The number of vehicles imported from the USA from January to March 2025 was 8,871 units, a year-on-year decrease of 67%.

3. Characteristics of countries importing Electric Vehicles.

Before 2019, the import quantity of Electric Vehicles was substantial, but in 2021, the domestic production of Tesla significantly decreased the number of pure electric vehicles.

In 2021, pure electric vehicle imports decreased significantly due to the local production of Tesla, but from 2022 to 2023, the development of New energy Fund was good, allowing more companies to import New energy Fund.

In 2024, domestic vehicles are quite competitive, with imports of New energy Vehicles from the main importing countries halving. The pressure for imported New energy Passenger Vehicles in 2025 is expected to further increase, while Europe still has some sales of imported New energy Vehicles.

4. Characteristics of imported complete vehicles from the USA.

China's imports of Autos from the USA have rapidly declined in recent years, from an import volume of 0.28 million vehicles in 2017 to a decrease to 0.109 million vehicles by 2024, a significant drop. From January to March 2025, imports of American vehicles reached 8,870 units, reflecting a year-on-year decline of 66%, and the decline continued into March.

The imported vehicles in the USA are mainly gasoline vehicles, but there is also a certain proportion of pure electric vehicles. Pure electric vehicles performed relatively strongly in the initial stage, while hybrid vehicles and others are relatively smaller in scale. Additionally, some European cars are produced in the USA and then exported back to China, with the import volume of Commercial Vehicles, mainly pickups, being relatively larger. In 2023, the import volume of pickups saw good growth, but this year it sharply declined, reaching only 243 units in March.

III. The Sales Pattern of the Auto Market

1. Overall Sales of Imported Vehicles

In the previous few years, imported vehicles maintained a high sales volume of nearly 0.07 million units in March, but this year the sales trend of imported vehicles has sharply declined, with only 0.0486 million vehicles sold at retail in March. The demand in January was weak due to the Spring Festival factor, and the recovery in March was slow, leading to potentially more cautious imports in the future.

Due to the strength of Chinese self-owned auto brands, the sales performance of imported vehicles has continued to decline, also weaker than the trend of domestic luxury cars. In 2021, the sales of imported vehicles reached 0.94 million units, a decrease of 6% compared to the 2020 sales.

In 2022, the sales of imported vehicles were 0.84 million units, a significant drop of 10% year-on-year compared to 2021, and also relatively weaker than the performance of domestic cars. In 2023, it finally returned to positive growth, reaching 0.91 million units, an increase of 8%.

In 2024, the number of imported vehicles covered by mandatory insurance is 0.8 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 12%. Due to the high base effect at the beginning of 2024, there is significant pressure on imported vehicle retail, which saw a decline of 33% to 0.13 million units from January to March this year, with future pressure still great.

2. Characteristics of imported car brands.

In recent years, the importation of super luxury vehicles has continued to grow, but there has been a significant decline since 2023, and the decline has accelerated in 2024, with a strong decline still apparent from January to March 2025. Ferrari's performance has been very strong. Bentley and Rolls-Royce have performed relatively well; although they have declined continuously, they still maintain relatively high sales levels. Maserati's performance remains overall sluggish, and the ultra-luxury market is generally weakening, reflecting a temporary slowdown in the purchasing power of ultra-high-end consumers, but high-end Ferrari sales performed well from January to March 2025.

Currently, the demand for imported vehicles mainly relies on luxury cars, while non-luxury imported vehicles are shrinking dramatically. The proportion of main imported luxury vehicles among imported cars has significantly increased. For Lexus, imported retail is down 1% in 2025, which is a decent performance. The overall performance of BMW, Audi, and Land Rover is relatively strong, while Porsche's recent performance has been weak.

Joint venture brand imported cars are shrinking rapidly, with significant declines in imports for brands like Toyota, Volkswagen, and SUBARU CORP Unsponsored ADR.

3. Regional changes in the imported ultra-luxury car brands.

The demand in the imported car market is generally weak, with Tianjin surpassing Shanghai to become the leader in the ultra-luxury segment. The imported ultra-luxury car market in traditional affluent areas like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Peking, and Chengdu is under significant pressure. The impact of Electric Vehicles on ultra-luxury is minimal, as the wealthy still want to showcase their status, and brands like Ferrari continue to perform well. Due to the unique business and identity characteristics of ultra-luxury, overall market demand is poor.

4. Characteristics of Regional Variability in Luxury Vehicles

Overall, the demand for domestic and imported luxury cars is generally weak, with significant pressure in the luxury car market of traditional affluent areas such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Peking. This year's performances in Suzhou and Chongqing are average.