China imported 30517 vehicles from Japan, 23695 from Germany, 17733 from Slovakia, in Q1 2025

In the first quarter of 2025, China imported 95,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 39%, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). In particular, 39,000 vehicles were imported in March, a decrease of 27%. China’s vehicle import volume has continued to decline at an average annual rate of about 8% from 1.24 million vehicles in 2017 to 800,000 vehicles in 2023. In 2024, the number of imported vehicles was 700,000, a year-on-year decrease of 12%.

The demand for imported vehicles mostly came from luxury cars, while non-luxury imported cars have shrunk dramatically. Furthermore, passenger cars accounted for 98% of the import volume in the first quarter. Among them, 40,000 sedans were imported, accounting for 43%; and 27,000 AWD SUVs were imported, accounting for 29%. The new energy passenger vehicle imports have also declined. 1,345 and 1,078 BEV and PHEV passenger vehicles were imported, down 82% and 77%, respectively.

Breaking it down by countries, China continued to import the most number of vehicles from Japan, then Germany, followed by Slovakia. The largest quarterly increase compared with Q1 2024 was from Slovakia (1,931 vehicles), Belgium (98 vehicles), Poland (85 vehicles), Vietnam (40 vehicles), and Spain (23 vehicles). Earlier this month, China imposed a 25% tariff on automobile imports from the United States. With the ongoing trade war still playing out between China and the United States, the import ranking is expected to shift for the United States.

For March, the largest increase compared to March 2024 was from Slovakia (401 vehicles), Japan (300 vehicles), Poland (107 vehicles), South Korea (60 vehicles), and Belgium (29 vehicles).

Source: Cui Dongshu

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