China imports August 2020: Audi (+92.8%), Mercedes (+30.5%), Lexus (+25.6%) trigger another uptick (+4%)

The new Land Rover Defender has landed in China.

Sales of imported new vehicles in China edge up 4% year-on-year in August to 85.631 units, marking the second consecutive month of gains after enduring a full 12 months of declines. The year-to-date tally is now down -19.8% to 604.585. Lexus (+25.6%) and Mercedes (+30.5%) vastly outperform the market, with the Lexus remaining at historically high levels, only 680 units off its all-time high of 22.635 hit last April. BMW (-4.1%) on the other hand skids down, posting the only year-on-year drop in the Top 5 while Porsche (+14.9%) and most strikingly Audi (+92.8%) shine. Subaru (+6.2%) is the only additional gainer in the Top 10 just as Volkswagen (-16.8%), Toyota (-13.1%) and Mini (-10.9%) struggle with double-digit gains. Among smaller brands, Lamborghini (+123.1%), McLaren (+108.3%), Bentley (+76.1%), Aston Martin (+39.3%), Maserati (+14.9%), Jaguar (+8.5%) and Rolls Royce (+8.2%) are among the biggest gainers.

Model-wise, the Lexus ES (+42.9%) continues to evolve way above the rest, selling almost 2.5 times the volume of the #2, the BMW X5 (+100.6%) in outstanding shape also this month. The Lexus RX (+35.6%) ensures the podium is entirely composed of double-digit gainers, the Lexus NX makes it a very impressive three Lexus in the August Top 4 and the Porsche Cayenne (+26.3%) is up two spots on July to round out the Top 5. The Toyota Alphard (+54.4%), Mercedes S-Class (+28.3%), GLE (+24.4%) and Mini (+11.8%) also stand out with double-digit gains in the remainder of the Top 10. Below, the Mercedes B-Class (+2865.7%), BMW 7 Series (+98.6%), Audi A5 (+69.6%), Audi A8 (+68.1%), VW Touareg (+52.7%), Mercedes GLC Coupe (+49.2%) and Porsche Panamera (+30.5%) also secure surreal upticks. The Audi Q8 remains the most popular recent launch but drops 6 spots on last month to #26, distancing the Lexus LM (#51), Audi e-Tron (#60), BMW 8 Series (#83) and Rolls Royce Cullinan (#95). The new generation Land Rover Defender has landed in China with the very first imported unit sold in August (#189).

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

One year ago: China imports August 2019: Tesla (+519.5%), Jeep (+25.4%) survive market down -24.8%

Full August 2020 Top 48 All-brands and Top 250 All-models below.