July Car and Parts Import Analysis

In the first half of the year, China's auto import sales fell sharply, in stark contrast to the rapidly growing domestic auto market. However, in July, the sales volume of the imported auto market increased rapidly.

According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of Gasgoo.com, in July this year, China’s imports of automobiles (including spare parts, hereinafter referred to as automobiles) achieved an increase in sales, with 108,000 vehicles imported, an increase of 11.3% year-on-year. The reason is related to the low base of the same period of last year. Affected by factors such as weak macro economy and sluggish consumption, the automobile import car market has been affected since the third quarter of last year, and the growth rate has slowed down significantly. Therefore, the base is relatively low.

Although the auto import auto market achieved rapid growth in July, due to the sharp drop in the first half of the year, the import volume of cars in the first seven months was still falling. From January to July, China's car imports totaled 638,000 units, down nearly 10% year-on-year (to 9.7%).

Two drops in the ranking of car imports

The sharp drop in the import volume of automobiles has also led to a substantial drop in the volume of automobile imports in China. From January to July this year, China’s auto imports amounted to US$25.95 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 15.0%, which was higher than the decline in imports, and the average vehicle price (from this rough calculation) has decreased. From January to July, the average unit price of auto imports was 40,700 U.S. dollars, which was lower than the 42,000 U.S. dollars for the entire year.

Of the 22 key commodities imported by China listed by the General Administration of Customs, from January to July this year, the number of imports of automobiles (including spare parts) was ranked ninth, which was lower than that of mechanical and electrical products, high-tech products, crude oil, integrated circuits, and agricultural products. , iron ore and concentrates, liquid crystal display panels, and primary shaped plastics. In the same period of last year, car imports were higher than liquid crystal display panels and primary plastics, ranking seventh.

Imports and exports of auto parts increase the trade surplus

In terms of automobile parts, China’s auto parts import volume still achieved growth, but the growth rate was lower than the growth rate of export value and the trade surplus expanded. From January to July this year, China's auto parts imports increased by 4.8% year-on-year to US$13.82 billion, while exports of auto parts increased by 12.2% year-on-year to US$16.2 billion. The auto parts surplus was 2.38 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.25 billion U.S. dollars.