China imports Full Year 2019: Lexus takes control with ES and RX, Tesla Model 3 lands in Top 10

The Lexus ES is the best-selling import in China in 2019.

Discover 30 years worth of Chinese Historical Data here.

For the third consecutive year we can share worth you complete China imports data for the Full Year, this is exclusive to BSCB as no media outside of China is reporting on these figures. Despite uncertainty on tariffs, notably on U.S. car imports (up to 40% since July 2018), the Chinese imports market is remarkably stable in 2019 at -0.4% to 1.145.957 units. 2019 is the year of Lexus (+22.7%) surging two spots to a clearcut leadership with over 200.000 units, leapfrogging past behemoths BMW (+4.3%) and Mercedes (-23.3%).

The Tesla Model 3 lands directly inside the Top 10 imports.

Porsche (+15.4%) is also in outstanding shape and easily overtakes Toyota (+9.4%) to snap a fantastic 4th place overall with over 90.000 units. 2019 is also the year Tesla went mainstream in most its export markets, and China is now exception with a 190.6% surge to #9 brought about by the arrival of the Model 3. However these volumes as bound to deplete come 2020 as the China-made Model 3 has now arrived. Below, notice Lamborghini (+298%), Mitsubishi (+91.7%), Alfa Romeo (+65.3%), Lotus (+55.7%), Rolls Royce (+41.5%), Ferrari (+28.6%), Jeep (+21.2%) and Mini (+20.5%) all sporting spectacular gains.

The new Urus lifts Lamborghini sales up 298% in China in 2019.

Model-wise, Lexus trusts the Top 2 spots with the ES (+57.6%) sailing off in the distance with just under 95.000 sales, over 2.3 times more than the Lexus RX (+19.6%) up 3 spots on 2018 to #2. The BMW X5 (-29.4%) is knocked down to #3 while the Lexus NX (-4.3%) is toppled outside the podium. Porsche impressively places both the Macan (+31.1%) and Cayenne (+10.1%) inside the Top 6. With the Toyota Land Cruiser (+13.7%), the Top 7 best-selling imported models in China in 2019 are all luxury SUVs.

The Cullinan SUV propels Rolls Royce sales up 41.5%.

The Mercedes S-Class (+12%) also shines in the Top 10 where the Tesla Model 3 lands directly as the best-selling imported sedan with just under 30.000 imported sales. The Mitsubishi Pajero (+92%), VW Touareg (+50.2%), Volvo XC90 (+34.2%), BMW 3 Series GT (+30.2%), Toyota Alphard (+28.3%) and Mini Hatch (+21.2%) also impress further down. The most popular 2019 imported launches below the Model 3 are the Lexus UX (#49), Lincoln Nautilus (#50), BMW X7 (#59) and Audi Q8 (#119).

Previous month: China imports November 2019: Tesla Model 3 lifts volume record to just under 5.000 sales in stable market (-0.8%)

Previous year: China imports 2018: Lexus (+26.3%) has ES at #1, NX at #3 and RX at #5 in market up 3.2%

Two years ago: China imports 2017: Exclusive data by model and brand

Full Year 2019 Top 50 All-brands and Top 322 All-models vs. Full Year 2018 figures below.

Full December 2019 Top 42 All-brands and Top 220 All-models below.