China imports January 2022: Mercedes takes control in market down -9.1%

Mercedes is the most successful importer in China in January.

New import sales in China skid down -9.1% year-on-year in January to 88,408. Mercedes (+22.9%) ignores the declining trend and topples Lexus (-14.8%) to take the first spot in the imported brands ranking with over 20,000 sales. BMW (-16.3%) returns to the third place it held over the FY2021, only 296 sales below Lexus. Porsche (-1%) is back down to #4 after a stellar 2nd place in December. Audi (-34.8%) is in difficulty but rounds out the Top 5 like over the FY2021. Below Land Rover (-11.6%), Toyota (+74.4%) scores the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 10. The only additional Top 10 gainer is Volvo (+2.8%) at #9. Below, Infiniti (+204.5%), McLaren (+47.1%), Aston Martin (+16.5%), Lamborghini (+15.6%) and Ferrari (+12.2%) are the only other brands in positive this month.

The Lexus ES (-8.4%) easily remains the best-selling imported model in China in January, but the rest of the Top 5 is reshuffled. The Mercedes GLE (+52.6%) soars to gain two spots on December and its FY2021 ranking to end the month at #2, followed by the BMW X5 (-5.9%). The Lexus RX is up two ranks on last month also to #4 while the Porsche Cayenne (+17.4%) is down three to #5. The Mercedes S-Class (+69.4%) and GLS (+86.4%) secure the largest upticks in the Top 8, with the Toyota Alphard (+33.1%) and most strikingly the Porsche Panamera (+168.4%) also impressive in the remainder of the Top 10.

Previous post: China imports Full Year 2021: Lexus ES and BMW X5 top market down -6.9%

Full January 2022 Top 30 All-brands and Top 145 All-models below.