According to Chinese media IT Home, China's automobile imports in August were 23,000 units, a 51% decrease year-on-year, as revealed by a summary from the China Automobile Dealers Association's Passenger Car Market Information Joint Meeting Branch (CPCA). This was a 48% decrease compared to the previous month.

Imports by country were: 7,393 units from Germany, 4,972 units from the United States, 3,645 units from Slovakia, 2,366 units from the United Kingdom, 2,173 units from Japan, 681 units from Mexico, 335 units from Italy, 306 units from Austria, 246 units from Thailand, and 67 units from Poland, among others.

Total imports from January to August were 270,000 units, a 17% decrease compared to the same period last year. Imports by country for this period were: 129,253 units from Japan, 59,183 units from Germany, 27,559 units from the United States, 19,004 units from Slovakia, 16,315 units from the United Kingdom, 4,156 units from Mexico, 3,838 units from Austria, 2,260 units from Thailand, 696 units from Italy, and 675 units from Sweden, among others.

According to Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the CPCA, while the imported car market has been shrinking in recent years, Lexus's retail share in the imported luxury car market in August rose by 7 percentage points to 44.6% from 37.6% last year. BMW, Porsche, and Land Rover are also performing relatively strongly. (Translation/Editing by Yanagawa)