Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Cars

/ Durables, Shopping Goods / By

Cars were the world’s number one import consumer product in 2020 based on international sales. In total, global demand for imported cars resulted in US$643.5 billion in annual spending.

The 5 most lucrative global consumer markets for importing cars account for over half (50.9%) of worldwide revenues. Specifically, that cashflow is generated by buyers in: United States (22.6%), Germany (10.2%), China (7%), France (5.7%) and United Kingdom (5.4%).

The world’s imports of cars fell in sales by -17.7% from 2019 to 2020 and by -9.1% compared to 2016.

Among the top 5 car-importing markets, purchases of cars dropped the most by the United Kingdom (down -20.9% from 2019 to 2020) and the United States (down -18.9%).

Year-over-year declines for the 3 other leading car importers were less than the -17.7% global benchmark namely China (down -4.5%), France (down -5.2%) and Germany (down -9.2%).

The following analysis focuses on metrics measuring consumer demand in the top 100 global markets for cars.

By comparing changes in consumer demand for imported cars by country, we can uncover the most attractive opportunities for selling automobiles and related products and services on international markets.

Cars Are Consumer Shopping Products

Cars meet the criteria of a consumer good (also called an end product) created by businesses for consumers to buy in its final form. In contrast, products like turbojets are usually purchased by companies or government entities rather than individuals.

Economists classify cars as shopping products, a technical classification for goods that are not as easily accessible as at local convenience stores or grocery shops.

A car is also defined as a shopping product because it is durable since it can be re-used for at least 3 years; typically requires more time before the consumer makes a buying decision; and is not bought as often as less expensive items such as food or beverages.

The average life expectancy of a vehicle for owners in the United States is over 15 years. President of the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association, Larry Lantz also notes that this increasing vehicle durability is much higher than the typical 4 or 5 years of usability in the 1970s.

Today, cars are more durable because they are made from improved lightweight materials like high-strength steel and polymer composites, greater consumer expectancies about a vehicle’s long-term value, and longer standard warranties extending the usability of both new and used vehicles.

Imported Cars Bought by Country

The pre-sorted list below showcases marketing intelligence for the top 100 buyers of cars, ranked in descending order starting with the greatest annual sales amount.

Also shown is the percentage change in import purchases from 2019 to 2020.

  1. United States: US$145,659,382,000 (down -18.9% from 2019)
  2. Germany: $65,529,511,000 (down -9.2%)
  3. China: $44,923,331,000 (down -4.5%)
  4. France: $36,476,373,000 (down -5.2%)
  5. United Kingdom: $34,661,778,000 (down -20.9%)
  6. Belgium: $32,495,261,000 (down -18.7%)
  7. Italy: $22,703,002,000 (down -26.4%)
  8. Canada: $21,849,192,000 (down -23.1%)
  9. Spain: $13,844,345,000 (down -33.9%)
  10. Australia: $12,846,966,000 (down -13.7%)
  11. South Korea: $12,060,521,000 (up +,8.5%)
  12. Saudi Arabia: $10,560,451,000 (down -3.4%)
  13. Netherlands: $10,441,925,000 (down -17%)
  14. Japan: $10,158,709,000 (down -16.3%)
  15. Switzerland: $10,113,450,000 (down -7.7%)
  16. Poland: $8,839,449,000 (down -18.4%)
  17. Austria: $7,963,697,000 (down -20.4%)
  18. Turkey: $7,928,656,000 (up +,124.2%)
  19. Sweden: $7,870,230,000 (down -9.1%)
  20. Taiwan: $6,060,209,000 (up +,9.8%)
  21. United Arab Emirates: $5,987,560,000 (down -57%)
  22. Mexico: $5,788,132,000 (down -41.3%)
  23. Norway: $5,679,663,000 (down -3.4%)
  24. Russia: $5,426,679,000 (down -31.4%)
  25. Denmark: $4,693,696,000 (down -4.1%)
  26. Israel: $4,163,269,000 (down -18%)
  27. Portugal: $3,862,999,000 (down -28.7%)
  28. Czech Republic: $3,687,798,000 (down -14.5%)
  29. Ukraine: $3,504,576,000 (down -3.1%)
  30. Hungary: $3,265,541,000 (down -12.9%)
  31. Finland: $3,061,860,000 (down -5.5%)
  32. Nigeria: $2,920,245,000 (up +,8%)
  33. Egypt: $2,751,784,000 (up +,8.1%)
  34. New Zealand: $2,441,047,000 (down -24.7%)
  35. Romania: $2,340,165,000 (down -20.2%)
  36. Slovakia: $2,270,188,000 (down -19.1%)
  37. Luxembourg: $2,201,652,000 (down -11.7%)
  38. Kuwait: $2,180,459,000 (down -32.4%)
  39. Ireland: $2,140,905,000 (down -16.1%)
  40. South Africa: $2,102,562,000 (down -46.6%)
  41. Vietnam: $2,086,609,000 (up +,4.1%)
  42. Philippines: $1,903,135,000 (down -38.8%)
  43. Brazil: $1,761,573,000 (down -46.9%)
  44. Slovenia: $1,740,716,000 (down -23.1%)
  45. Argentina: $1,614,996,000 (down -31.7%)
  46. Colombia: $1,531,224,000 (down -33.9%)
  47. Oman: $1,500,253,000 (down -54.8%)
  48. Chile: $1,464,497,000 (down -54.6%)
  49. Hong Kong: $1,451,263,000 (down -26.4%)
  50. Morocco: $1,427,170,000 (down -34.9%)
  51. Greece: $1,413,001,000 (down -18.8%)
  52. Jordan: $1,251,160,000 (up +,48.9%)
  53. Lithuania: $1,223,970,000 (down -21.4%)
  54. Qatar: $1,165,338,000 (up +,6.6%)
  55. Singapore: $1,121,787,000 (down -45%)
  56. Thailand: $1,074,810,000 (down -31.7%)
  57. Malaysia: $1,046,801,000 (down -48.9%)
  58. Croatia: $972,197,000 (down -34.6%)
  59. Peru: $969,646,000 (down -35.7%)
  60. Estonia: $892,597,000 (down -13.9%)
  61. Pakistan: $860,288,000 (up +,8.9%)
  62. Bulgaria: $858,944,000 (down -21%)
  63. Iraq: $853,508,000 (down -66.2%)
  64. Belarus: $800,907,000 (down -35.4%)
  65. Kazakhstan: $771,959,000 (up +,3.7%)
  66. Bahrain: $676,379,000 (down -24.4%)
  67. Indonesia: $611,712,000 (down -45.9%)
  68. Azerbaijan: $542,389,000 (down -0.7%)
  69. Dominican Republic: $531,520,000 (down -48.2%)
  70. Cambodia: $501,843,000 (down -39.5%)
  71. Latvia: $495,902,000 (down -34.9%)
  72. Uzbekistan: $475,139,000 (up +,8%)
  73. Serbia: $463,384,000 (down -21.5%)
  74. Cyprus: $457,235,000 (down -18.7%)
  75. Tunisia: $450,469,000 (down -26.3%)
  76. Ecuador: $425,314,000 (down -34.8%)
  77. Algeria: $424,597,000 (down -42.7%)
  78. Ethiopia: $417,408,000 (down -8.8%)
  79. Ghana: $416,738,000 (down -52.7%)
  80. Guatemala: $411,506,000 (down -26.1%)
  81. Paraguay: $410,611,000 (down -22.7%)
  82. Kenya: $386,415,000 (down -30.2%)
  83. Libya: $379,443,000 (down -60.2%)
  84. Costa Rica: $363,322,000 (down -33.2%)
  85. Bosnia/Herzegovina: $357,542,000 (down -29.6%)
  86. Iceland: $340,130,000 (up +,5.8%)
  87. Bangladesh: $331,560,000 (down -31.7%)
  88. Myanmar: $289,197,000 (up +,30%)
  89. Brunei Darussalam: $276,269,000 (up +,9%)
  90. Bolivia: $272,016,000 (down -36.9%)
  91. Mongolia: $271,493,000 (down -35.2%)
  92. Uruguay: $247,872,000 (down -17.3%)
  93. Jamaica: $229,331,000 (down -38.7%)
  94. Yemen: $223,016,000 (down -34.6%)
  95. Lebanon: $220,953,000 (down -71.4%)
  96. Benin: $200,697,000 (up +,218.3%)
  97. Macao: $194,511,000 (down -20.2%)
  98. Trinidad/Tobago: $193,037,000 (down -29.9%)
  99. Sri Lanka: $192,844,000 (down -65.4%)
  100. Gibraltar: $192,434,000 (down -22.1%)

Among the above 100 global markets, 15 countries increased their purchases of imported cars. The 5 leading buying increases were Benin (up 218.3%), Turkey (up 124.2%), Jordan (up 48.9%), Myanmar (up 30%) and Taiwan (up 9.8%).

Leading the decliners year over year was Lebanon (down -71.4%).

Dramatic declines for car imports were also experienced in Iraq (down -66.2%), Sri Lanka (down -65.4%), Libya (down -60.2%), United Arab Emirates (down -57%), Oman (down -54.8%), Chile (down -54.6%), Ghana (down -52.7%), Malaysia (down -48.9%), Dominican Republic (down -48.2%), Brazil (down -46.9%) and South Africa (down -46.6%).

Richest Global Markets for Imported Cars

Shown below is the market demand for cars imported during 2020 by 30 of world’s richest countries in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person, according to RichestCountryReports.com.

Countries are listed in descending order starting with the wealthiest economy in terms of GDP per capita.

  1. Luxembourg: US$2.2 billion (Down -11.7% from 2019 to 2020)
  2. Singapore: $1.1 billion (Down -45%)
  3. Ireland: $2.1 billion (Down -16.1%)
  4. Qatar: $1.2 billion (Up 6.6%)
  5. Macao: $194.5 million (Down -20.2%)
  6. Switzerland: $10.1 billion (Down -7.7%)
  7. Norway: $5.7 billion (Down -3.4%)
  8. United States: $145.7 billion (Down -18.9%)
  9. Brunei Darussalam: $276.3 million (Up 9%)
  10. Hong Kong: $1.5 billion (Down -26.4%)
  11. Denmark: $4.7 billion (Down -4.1%)
  12. Netherlands: $10.4 billion (Down -17%)
  13. United Arab Emirates: $6 billion (Down -57%)
  14. Taiwan: $6.1 billion (Up 9.8%)
  15. Iceland: $340.1 million (Up 5.8%)
  16. Austria: $8 billion (Down -20.4%)
  17. Germany: $65.5 billion (Down -9.2%)
  18. Sweden: $7.9 billion (Down -9.1%)
  19. Australia: $12.8 billion (Down -13.7%)
  20. Belgium: $32.5 billion (Down -18.7%)
  21. Finland: $3.1 billion (Down -5.5%)
  22. Canada: $21.8 billion (Down -23.1%)
  23. Bahrain: $676.4 million (Down -24.4%)
  24. France: $36.5 billion (Down -5.2%)
  25. Saudi Arabia: $10.6 billion (Down -3.4%)
  26. United Kingdom: $34.7 billion (Down -20.9%)
  27. South Korea: $12.1 billion (Up 8.5%)
  28. Malta: $108,285 (No change)
  29. Japan: $10.2 billion (Down -16.3%)
  30. New Zealand: $2.4 billion (Down -24.7%)

Five among the above richest economies spent more on imported cars in 2020 compared to 2019. The top gainers were Taiwan (up 9.8%), Brunei Darussalam (up 9%), South Korea (up 8.5%), Qatar (up 6.6%) and Iceland (up 5.8%).

Enduring the greatest declines were United Arab Emirates (down -57%), Singapore (down -45%), Hong Kong (down -26.4%), New Zealand (down -24.7%), Bahrain (down -24.4%), Canada (down -23.1%) and United Kingdom (down -20.9%).

Top 10 US Imported Cars Suppliers

United States of America is the world’s biggest market for imported cars as measured by total sales.

The following countries benefited the most from selling imported cars into the US in 2020.

  1. Japan: US$33 billion (22.7% of US total)
  2. Mexico: $29.9 billion (20.5%)
  3. Canada: $29.5 billion (20.3%)
  4. South Korea: $16.6 billion (11.4%)
  5. Germany: $12.5 billion (8.6%)
  6. United Kingdom: $6.3 billion (4.3%)
  7. Slovakia: $3.9 billion (2.7%)
  8. Italy: $3.3 billion (2.2%)
  9. Sweden: $2.5 billion (1.7%)
  10. China: $1.7 billion (1.2%)

Three among America’s major suppliers of cars increased their sales from 2019 to 2020: Sweden (up 6.7%), South Korea (up 1.3%) and Slovakia (up 0.7%).

The greatest annual decreases in US imports of cars on global markets were posted by United Kingdom (down -36.5%), Germany (down -30.8%), Canada (down -21.9%) and Mexico (down -21.5%).

Cars Imported by Key American States

The following 15 states imported 89.7% worth of America’s total spending on cars purchased from international suppliers in 2020.

  1. Michigan: US$31.9 billion (21.9% of US total)
  2. California: $29.6 billion (20.3%)
  3. Texas: $18.6 billion (12.8%)
  4. Maryland: $10.2 billion (7%)
  5. Georgia: $8.1 billion (5.5%)
  6. Tennessee: $7.7 billion (5.3%)
  7. New Jersey: $4.9 billion (3.4%)
  8. Rhode Island: $4.44 billion (3%)
  9. Washington: $4.39 billion (3%)
  10. Florida: $3.34 billion (2.3%)
  11. Pennsylvania: $3.26 billion (2.2%)
  12. Oregon: $1.8 billion (1.2%)
  13. Massachusetts: $820.4 million (0.6%)
  14. Puerto Rico: $819.5 million (0.6%)
  15. Louisiana: $667.1 million (0.5%)

Four American states increased their imports of cars from 2019 to 2020 namely New Jersey (up 45.5%), Massachusetts (up 7.7%), Pennsylvania (up 6.2%) and Washington state (up 5.9%).

The greatest year-over-year declines were posted by Rhode Island (down -35.9%), Louisiana (down -31.7%) and Michigan (down -25.1%).

More Market Metrics for US Imported Cars

In terms of product quantity, the United States imported 6.5 million cars in 2020. The latest annual number of cars imported into America is a -16.6% reduction from the 7.8 million imported cars in 2019.

To give some perspective to the above numbers benchmarking the world’s biggest market for imported cars, Canada imported 1.1 million cars from international suppliers (down -21.9% from 2019).

Australia imported 677,881 cars for 2020 (down -16% year over year) while Japan bought 285,210 imported cars (down -15.7%).

The average unit value that American importers paid for foreign-made cars in 2020 was $22,398 (down -2.7% from 2019).

In contrast, buyers in Japan paid a much higher average price of $35,618 for imported cars (down -0.7%).

Importers in Canada spent an average $20,600 (down -1.5%) and the average unit cost for Australian importers was $18,952 (up 2.8%).

World’s Biggest Car Makers

Below you will find the top 10 largest multinational companies that manufacture cars. The list is ranked in descending order based on market capitalization as of May 2021.

The dollar amount listed includes both domestic and international vehicle sales in 2020.

  1. Toyota Motor: US$249.4 billion (Toyota/Aichi, Japan)
  2. Volkswagen Group: $254.1 billion (Wolfsburg, Germany)
  3. Daimler: $175.9 billion (Stuttgart, Germany)
  4. General Motors: $122.5 billion (Detroit, USA)
  5. BMW Group: $112.8 billion (Munich, Germany)
  6. Hyundai Motor: $88.1 billion (Seoul, South Korea)
  7. Honda Motor: $121.8 billion (Tokyo, Japan)
  8. Ford Motor: $127.1 billion (Dearborn, USA)
  9. SAIC Motor: $106.7 billion (Shanghai, China)
  10. Nissan Motor: $72 billion (Yokohama, Japan)

Shown within brackets is the city which serves as the global headquarters for each corporate colossus.

Note that 5 of the world’s largest manufacturers of imported cars are in Asia, while 3 are in Europe.

Two others, General Motors and Ford, are North American competitors in the international market supplying imported cars.

See also

More great research: World’s 200 Most Valuable Imported Consumer Products, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Wine, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Rice, Top Markets for Buying Imported Motorcycles by Dollar Value

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Forbes, The Forbes Global 2000 List

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 50 Richest Countries by GDP per Capita.

United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade State Data.

Wheels.ca, Longer Vehicle Life Expectancy a Testament to Research and Technology.

Wikipedia, Automotive industry.

World’s Top Exports, US Exported & Imported Cars by State.

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