Analysis on the Change of China's Automobile Import since 2009

The growth rate of imports of automobiles (including spare parts) is more than double that of auto parts

According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of Gasgoo.com, in 2009, China’s imports of auto parts (including spare parts) and auto parts were less than US$16 billion, and imports of automobiles (including spare parts) were US$15.36 billion, slightly higher than Automobile parts (US$ 12.82 billion); imports of automobiles (including spare parts) only increased by 1.4% compared to 2008, while imports of automobile parts increased by 12.2%.

Since 2010, the import volume of automobiles (including complete sets of spare parts) and auto parts has achieved a relatively high growth, especially for automobiles (including complete spare parts). In 2010, China’s imports of automobiles (including spare parts) increased by 99.1% to US$30.58 billion, which was US$11.94 billion higher than the import value of auto parts, and its growth rate was more than double that of automobile parts. Imports of auto parts for the year amounted to US$18.64 billion, an increase of 45.3% over 2009.

From January to November 2011, China’s imports of automobiles (including spare parts) increased by 42.6% to US$38.74 billion, which was US$18.45 billion higher than the import value of auto parts, and the growth rate was more than twice that of auto parts. During the period, the import volume of auto parts was USD 20.29 billion, which was an increase of 20.3% over the same period of last year.

In April of this year, the import volume of automobiles (including complete sets of spare parts) decreased. From the perspective of import volume, in 2009, the import volume of automobiles (including complete sets of spare parts) in China was only 419,000 vehicles, an increase of 2.8% from 2008. In 2010, it nearly doubled to 810,000 vehicles (up 93.4%), and in January-November 2011, it also increased by 28.3% over the same period of last year. The number of imported vehicles in 2010 and January-November 2011 was much higher than the average growth rate of the Chinese auto market (32.4% and 2.6%, respectively).

Judging from the trend of imports of automobiles (including spare parts) in each month of 2009, from January to November 2011, although the accumulated growth achieved 28.3%, the import volume in one month decreased year-on-year, that is, the import volume in April was from the same period of last year. About 75,000 vehicles were reduced to about 73,000 vehicles. After that, imports still achieved high growth in each month, especially in August and afterwards, the year-on-year growth rate reached over 30%. The sudden drop in imports in April this year and subsequent changes were related to the short-term decline in Japanese car imports after the 311 earthquake in Japan and the subsequent recovery.

summary:

In the past two years, China’s rigid demand for high-end cars and SUVs (especially luxury car brands) has increased, prompting the number and amount of imported cars to soar. In 2010, the number and amount of imported cars were almost doubled. From January to November 2011, imports of automobiles (including spare parts) increased by 28.3%, while imports increased by 42.6%. It can be inferred that cars imported in 2011 are generally higher-end and more luxurious.