Shanghai (ZXZC)- In October, the automobile import volume in China surged 63.8% from the previous year to roughly 95,000 units (including chassis), which are worth 35.26 billion yuan ($5.362 billion), according to the Sinomach Automobile Co.,Ltd., China's largest dealer of imported vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz GLE; photo credit: Mercedes-Benz

For the first ten months of 2020, China imported a total of 714,000 vehicles (including chassis), posting a year-on-year decrease of 15%, 6.3 percentage points lower than the drop in Q1-Q3 volume. The Jan.-Oct. import value of automobiles reached 245.79 billion yuan ($37.381 billion).

In the Jan.-Oct. period, the domestic deliveries of imported PVs amounted to 782,000 units, sliding 13.8% over a year earlier. Of those, around 85,000 units were handed over to consumers in October, a year-over-year growth of 11.8%.

The car and SUVs together contributed to 96% of the Jan.-Oct. imported PV deliveries in China. Specifically, the car deliveries shrank 12.8% year over year to 319,508 units, while the volume of SUVs dwindled 14.8% to 430,369 units.

As of October, a total of 31,872 imported MPVs were delivered so far this year, a decline of 11.1% compared to the same period in 2019.

Among the top 10 brands by Oct. imported PV deliveries, seven brands achieved year-on-year growth. Audi and Mercedes-Benz boasted 65.6% and 45% hike respectively thanks to the robust demands of Audi A8 sedan and GLE SUV. The first three places were still occupied by Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Compared to September, Toyota leapfrogged Audi to the fifth place.

In terms of Jan.-Oct. imported PV deliveries, the champion and runner-up were still Lexus and Mercedes-Benz, and they were also the only two that gained increase among the top 10 brands.