China's vehicle imports fell by 18% in 2022
- Sales of imported vehicles in China in 2022 decreased by 18% compared to the previous year to reach 769,286 units, marking the third consecutive year of decline since 2020. This phenomenon is notably due to the drop in imports from Germany and Japan, as China now producing most of the German and Japanese cars sold on its soil. We must also take into account the sluggish growth of the Chinese economy due to the resurgence of the new coronavirus, the impact of the global shortage of semiconductors and the sharp rise in raw material prices.
- European vehicle imports fell 18.3% year-on-year to 530,033 units. The market share of European brands decreased by 0.2 points to 68.9%, continuing to hold almost 70% of the imported vehicle market compared to the previous year.
- Japanese carmakers' imports fell 15.3 percent from a year earlier to 223,142 units, but their market share increased slightly to 29.0 % of total imports from 28.1 percent a year earlier.
- Due to the impact of the pandemic and tensions between the United States and China in various areas, sales of American automobile carmakers continued to decline sharply, down 43.4% year-on-year, to 13,935 units. As a result, the United States' share of the imported vehicle market fell further, from 2.6% to 1.8% compared to the previous year. US vehicle imports peaked in 2014 at 174,000 units. Korean imports represent only 0.3% of total imports, compared to 0.2% in 2021.