China imported more cars in 2017, the China Automobile Dealers Association announced last week. About 1.21 million automobiles were imported, 16.8 percent growth from 2016, the association said.
Parallel imports, vehicles bought from other markets to be sold in China, increased by 29.8 percent to 172,000 units. Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) dominated the market, making up 88 percent of the all parallel imports.
Unlike traditional imports, the parallel-import scheme allows local car dealers to directly purchase vehicles from foreign markets, and the prices of parallel import vehicles, primarily premium brands, are usually 15 percent lower than dealers authorized by auto makers.