SHANGHAI, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Customs has released figures showing a rise in auto imports for nine consecutive months since January this year.
In the first nine months of this year, a total of 302,000 vehicles worth 84.87 billion yuan (12.79 billion U.S. dollars) were imported through Shanghai, up 17 percent year on year.
About 169,000 cars were imported from the Europe Union during the period, up 21.2 percent year on year, accounting for 55.7 percent of the total imports. Cars imported from the United States increased 30.1 percent year on year to 72,000.
The number of imported vehicles with engines between 1.5 liters and 2.0 liters also increased to 165,000 during the period.
Analysts attributed the consecutive growth to the strong auto consumption market and the rapid introduction of new car models by automobile companies.
