Shanghai (ZXZC)- For the first ten months of 2021, there were 796,566 imported passenger vehicles (PVs) delivered across China, representing a 1.9% growth year-over-year, according to the Sinomach Automobile Co.,Ltd., China's largest dealer of imported vehicles.

To be specific, the Jan.-Oct. deliveries of imported cars jumped 10.5% from the previous year to 353,037 units, while the SUV and MPV segments posted 2.8% and 20.9% decrease respectively with 418,315 and 25,214 vehicles delivered.

Lexus UX 300e; photo credit: Lexus

Affected by the chip shortage and rising share of domestically built cars, China's deliveries of imported PVs plunged 31.9% from a year ago to 57,957 units in October, including 21,225 cars (-38.3% YoY), 34,898 SUVs (-27.3% YoY), and 1,834 MPVs (-31.9% YoY).

Of the imported PVs delivered in October, 51,042 units were under luxury car brands, representing a 26.6% year-on-year downward movement. Luxury brands consist of Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Cadillac, Lexus, Land Rover, Maserati, MINI, Acura, smart, Tesla, Volvo, Infiniti, etc.

Eight of the top 10 auto brands by Oct. deliveries of imported PVs posted year-on-year decrease amid chip crunch. Lexus dropped to the third place due to its price rise caused by shortage of inventories. The decrease confronting Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen stood at up to 70.4% and 59%.

In terms of the Jan.-Oct. imported PV deliveries, the top 3 brands were still Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Among the top 10 brands, Toyota and Volkswagen were the only two posting downturn year-over-year. With a 64% increase, Audi was the fastest-growing one.