China imports August 2021: Audi (+24.8%), Mercedes (+13%), Land Rover (+11.3%) can’t prevent market fall (-8.5%)

Audi imports are up 24.8% year-on-year in August.

New car imports into China drop -8.5% year-on-year in August to 78.428 units, leading to a year-to-date tally up 8.9% to 658.723. Although it slightly outpaces the market at -7.2%, pure importer Lexus remains by far the most successful this month, with almost 4.500 sales more than the #2 Mercedes (+13%) in excellent shape. BMW (-3.6%) only edges down in third place while Audi (+24.8%) posts the largest gain in the Top 10 and remains at #4 above Porsche (-17.2%) in difficulty. Land Rover (+11.3%), Mini (+9.6%) and Volvo (+4%) also manage an uptick in the remainder of the Top 10 but Toyota (-54.2%) and Subaru (-32.7%) implode. Further down, Hyundai (+8200%), Ferrari (+4600%), Bentley (+256%), Aston Martin (+84.6%) and Rolls Royce (+52.4%) stand out.

Model-wise, we have a very stable top of the charts with the 5 best-sellers identical to July, year-to-date and FY2020. The Lexus ES (-19.4%) continues to dominate despite a significant fall, distancing the Lexus RX (+3.6%) and BMW X5 (-1.9%). The Lexus NX (+20.2%) and Mercedes GLE (+37.8%) round out the Top 5 in very dynamic fashion. The Porsche Macan (+16.3%) is up five spots on July to reclaim the 6th spot it holds year-to-date, ahead of the Mercedes S-Class (+0.5%) and Porsche Cayenne (-37.4%). The Audi A5 (+78.7%) delivers the largest gain in the Top 10 at #10 vs. #12 year-to-date. Below, the BMW 2 Series (+212.8%), Mercedes GLS (+73.8%), Mercedes CLA (+62.2%), Lexus UX (+50.7%), BMW X4 (+45.5%) and Audi Q7 (+21%) impress.

Previous month: China imports July 2021: Mini, BMW, Audi impress in market up 2.8%

One year ago: China imports August 2020: Audi, Mercedes, Lexus trigger another uptick (+4%)

Full August 2021 Top 30 All-brands and Top 145 All-models below.