China Imports April 2019: Lexus (+42.1%) sails off in first market lift this year (+8.8%)

Lexus RX sales surge 85.6% year-on-year in China this month.

Imports into China score their first year-on-year gain of 2019 in April at a sturdy +8.8% to 95.341, meaning the year-to-date volume is now down -5.8% at 348.113 vs. -10.2% as of last month. Lexus (+42.1%) roars ahead again, managing a third consecutive pole position and extending its YTD lead over #2 BMW (+25%) to almost 4.000 units. Mercedes (-31%) is in difficulty at #3 whereas Porsche (+20.6%), Audi (+47.6%), Volkswagen (+16%) and Mini (+42.1%) all outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 10. Further down, Lamborghini (+2000%), Ferrari (+194.7%), Alfa Romeo (+142.7%), Jeep (+125.2%), Mitsubishi (+109.8%), Rolls Royce (+103.2%), Tesla (+101.6%) and Volvo (+48.9%) stand out.

Model-wise, Lexus monopolises the Top 2 spots for the third straight month with the ES (+73.8%) and RX (+85.6%) both posting spectacular gains. They are followed by the Porsche Macan (+51.3%), Lexus NX (-13.1%) and BMW 3 Series GT (+125%), while the BMW X2 nudges up one spot to a record #8, reclaiming the title of best-selling recent launch (<12 months) off the Tesla Model 3 down 11 spots on last month to #14.

Previous month: China Imports March 2019: Tesla Model 3 lands at #3, sales drop slows to -2.7%

One year ago: China Imports April 2018: Lexus up 34% to #2 below Mercedes

Full April 2019 Top 45 All-brands and Top 215 All-models below.