Shanghai (ZXZC)- At the 14th China Imported Auto Forum on November 26th, Zhou Yachun, head of Processing Trade and Customs Bonded Operation Department of General Administration of Customs (GACC), speculated, "The vehicle imports is expected to hit 1 million by the year end, closer to peak imports of 1.2 million before."

In the first ten months, our country imported a total of 988,426 vehicles, up 18.6 percent year on year.

SINOMACHI released the Research Report on China Imported Vehicles Market Development 2017-2018 (the Report), which indicated that the imports rebounded this year, the inventory got continuous replenishment, and the sales saw recovery.Ding Hongxiang, deputy general manager of SINOMACH, said at the forum, " China's auto market in 2017 presented two outstanding features, the consumption upgrading and the structural adjustment, which stimulated the development of imported vehicle market.

In terms of vehicle type, the sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) grew rapidly, and Tesla is the biggest driver.

The parallel import saw rapid growth, too. The parallel imports from January to September reached 124,837, up 46.2% year on year, accounting for 14.1% of the total imports, with SUV as the biggest portion.

Ding Hongxiang also said, "As favorable policies, like tax cut on imported cars, the imported vehicle market, especially the parallel import market will greet a rising stage." He added his speculation that in 2018, the inventory replenishment period of imported cars will come to an end, the imports and sales will turn out a growth of

single digit, and parallel imports may rise to account for 15% of the whole imported vehicle market with the expansion of market share.