China's automobile exports will become the main driving force for the growth of the domestic automobile market in 2024.

The latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that from January to November, China's automobile production and sales reached 27.903 million and 27.94 million respectively, up 2.9% and 3.7% year-on-year respectively. Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, predicts that total sales this year are expected to exceed 31 million.

Cars wait for transportation at the port in Xiamen, Fujian, July 10, 2024.

Among them, from January to November, China exported 5.345 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 21.2%. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts that if China's automobile exports can remain at around 500,000 vehicles in December, the total export volume in 2024 will reach 5.8 million vehicles, higher than the 5.5 million vehicles predicted at the beginning of the year. In 2024, China has firmly established itself as the world's largest automobile exporter.

Compared with the hot automobile exports, China's imported automobile market performed sluggishly in 2024.

The China Passenger Car Association recently released its latest sales data report, among which, the data of compulsory traffic insurance for domestic imported cars from January to November was 720,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 12%, and the super luxury brands showed an overall weakening trend.

Data released by the Imported Vehicle Working Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association also showed that from January to October, China imported 577,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 9.3%; the import value reached 233.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13%.

The China Automobile Dealers Association predicts that considering that the automobile import volume in October was only 43,000 units, it is expected that the automobile import volume this year will hit a new low since 2010.

Image source: Imported Vehicle Working Committee of China Automobile Dealers Association

Among them, from January to October, the sales volume of super luxury imported cars decreased by 32.96%; the sales volume of non-luxury imported cars decreased by 21.91%; and the sales volume of imported luxury cars decreased by 13.35%.

In terms of sales volume, luxury cars are still the main sales force, with a cumulative share of 90.84% from January to October. In the overall downward trend of the imported automobile market, Lexus is one of the few luxury brands that has maintained growth.

The latest sales data released by the China Passenger Car Association shows that from January to November 2024, Lexus sold a total of 163,956 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 4%, ranking first in the imported car sales list and becoming a major highlight in the imported car market in 2024.

In fact, due to the rise of domestic brands and the overall consumer market's "wait-and-see" attitude, China's imported car sales have continued to slow down since 2019.

Lexus believes that its rich product lineup, excellent product quality and perfect service policy are the reasons for its steady sales growth.