China imports July 2020: Audi (+134.6%), Nissan (+101.8%), Mercedes (+61%) help tilt market up 8.4%

The Audi Q8 breaks into the Top 20 imports for the first time in July.

After a logical slump last month due to unusually high year-ago volumes, the Chinese imports market bounces back up 8.4% year-on-year in July to 85.215 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -22.7% to 518.954. Once again, both Lexus (+28.8%) and Mercedes (+61%) vastly outpace the market to cement their domination whereas BMW (-13.4%) and Porsche (-8.5%) underperform with negative results. Audi (+134.6%), Nissan (+101.8%) and Toyota (+21.6%) shine in the remainder of the Top 10 whereas Land Rover (-12.8%), Subaru (-6.8%) and Volkswagen (-2.7%) struggle. Further down, notice Cadillac (+1200%), McLaren (+255.6%), Bentley (+143.5%), GMC (+125%), Aston Martin (+44.8%), Maserati (+33.1%) and Lamborghini (+13.9%) all posting fantastic gains. Now that its local factory is in full gear, Tesla imports (-91.1%) have dwindled to just a trickle: 155 units in July.

Model-wise, the Lexus ES (+41.1%) and RX (+42.3%) surge ahead to hold onto the top 2 spots like last year and year-to-date, while the BMW X5 (+111.8%) and Mercedes GLE (+279.5%) both show explosive growth to round out the Top 4 above a declining Lexus NX (-10.4%). The Nissan Patrol (+101.6%) is up 9 spots on June to break into the Top 10 imports for the first time since June 2019 at #10, with the Mercedes S-Class (+49.4%), Toyota Alphard (+34.4%) and Porsche Cayenne (+18.2%) also in outstanding shape, as are the Audi A8 (+194.5%), A5 (+115.6%) and BMW 7 Series (+92.1%) just outside the Top 10. The Audi Q8 remains the most popular recent launch and breaks into the Top 20 for the first time at #20, distancing the Lexus LM (#44) and Audi e-Tron (#52).

Previous month: China imports June 2020: Lexus, Mercedes only gainers in Top 22, market down -37% on high year-ago score

One year ago: China imports July 2019: Lexus (+37.4%) monopolises podium in market down -13.3%

Full July 2020 Top 50 All imported brands and Top 185 All-models below.