According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), on November 9 the association released its analysis of the national passenger car market for October 2026.
In October 2026, national passenger car retail sales reached 1.643 million units, down 27.1% year-on-year and up 1.5% month-on-month; cumulative retail sales for January-October stood at 14.978 million units, down 22.3% year-on-year. The most prominent feature of the October domestic auto market was the lack of peak-season momentum, with the traditional "Silver October" falling far short of expectations. Because the Mid-Autumn Festival fell in September, October had a longer selling period, so performance improved compared with September. The purchasing performance of first-time buyers, who typically support autumn and winter auto market growth, was relatively weak this year. The sluggishness of the A00 and A segments shows that recent auto market policies have mainly supported consumption upgrading, and the higher threshold for subsidy eligibility has somewhat suppressed vehicle purchase demand among those without cars.
1. Review of the National Passenger Car Market in October 2026
Retail: In October 2026, national passenger car retail sales reached 1.643 million units, down 27.1% year-on-year and up 1.5% month-on-month; cumulative retail sales for January-October stood at 14.978 million units, down 22.3% year-on-year.
Against the backdrop of overall market pressure and a year-on-year retail decline in October 2026, strong export performance became a key variable supporting automakers' sales, and the export structure showed a clear "mid-to-low-price mainstream model" characteristic, which directly helped mainstream self-owned brands stand out more prominently amid performance divergence. Specifically, October passenger car exports (including complete vehicles and CKD) reached 928,000 units, up 68.5% year-on-year, with exports accounting for 35% of manufacturers' sales (19% last year). Among these, new energy passenger car exports totaled 582,000 units, surging 144.7% year-on-year, with A00+A0 class pure electric vehicles accounting for 56% of pure electric exports. Since export models are mainly mid-to-low-price mainstream vehicles, self-owned brands emphasizing cost-effectiveness and scale advantages (such as Byd Company Limited (002594), Chery, and Geely) showed stronger sales resilience driven by exports, while automakers relying on high-end or purely fuel-powered models faced greater pressure. This confirms the current core logic of the auto market: under the pattern of "domestic stock competition and overseas incremental breakthroughs," the structural dividend of exports is reshaping the competitive ranking of self-owned brands.
The most prominent feature of the October domestic auto market was the lack of peak-season momentum, with the traditional "Silver October" falling far short of expectations. Because the Mid-Autumn Festival fell in September, October had a longer selling period, so performance improved compared with September. After the autumn harvest, income is in hand and weather turns colder, so vehicle demand should stand out, but the purchasing performance of first-time buyers, who typically support autumn and winter auto market growth, was relatively weak this year. The sluggishness of the A00 and A segments shows that recent auto market policies have mainly supported consumption upgrading, and the higher threshold for subsidy eligibility has somewhat suppressed vehicle purchase demand among those without cars. The fuel vehicle market has long lacked new product launches, and usage costs are rising, which is not conducive to fully unleashing the purchasing power of first-time buyers. Recently, oil prices have been at high levels, and non-ferrous metals and mining input prices have risen, leaving consumers' purchasing power and willingness to buy both relatively low.
Overall, the October passenger car market presented five distinct characteristics: First, total volume continued to face deep year-on-year pressure, month-on-month recovery was under way but limited in strength, and structural divergence was extremely amplified, with "accelerating shrinkage of fuel vehicles and resilient leadership of new energy" becoming the market's main theme, as high oil prices continued to accelerate the pace of "oil-to-electric substitution." Second, new energy penetration should have seasonally flattened in autumn, but this year it continued to hit new highs, with October new energy retail penetration climbing to 67.5% and wholesale penetration reaching 67.3%, both record highs. Third, the extended-range market landscape changed dramatically, with strong growth from Xiaomi and Leapmotor driving October extended-range performance higher month-on-month. Fourth, in October, fuel vehicle exports accounted for 40% of manufacturers' fuel vehicle wholesale sales (24% in October 2025), and new energy vehicle exports accounted for 33% of manufacturers' new energy wholesale sales (15% in October 2025), with "exports surpassing domestic demand" stabilizing manufacturers' wholesale volumes and profits; this month, luxury new energy vehicle exports accounted for 78% of manufacturers' sales, and export volume became the core driver of automakers' growth. Fifth, joint venture automakers actively sought breakthroughs, with SAIC Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen pure electric new products surging strongly, SAIC-GM plug-in hybrids becoming the main sales force, and Japanese hybrids performing relatively strongly. However, the current auto market downturn is a phased phenomenon caused by short-term policy disruptions overlapping with a high base, not a peak in the fundamentals of vehicle popularization. The top-heavy characteristic of "high popularization in large cities and weak popularization in counties and townships" is particularly obvious, and the blue ocean of first-purchase demand in lower-tier counties and townships remains broad.
In October, fuel vehicle retail sales fell 45% year-on-year, of which pure fuel vehicles fell 51% year-on-year, while ordinary hybrid vehicles rose 28% year-on-year. Within fuel vehicles, self-owned brands fell 46% year-on-year, mainstream joint ventures fell 46%, and luxury brands fell 37%, all indiscriminately hit hard by high oil prices. In October, new energy vehicle retail sales fell 13.7% year-on-year, of which self-owned brands fell 15%, mainstream joint ventures rose 69%, and luxury brands fell 45%; self-owned A00-class electric vehicles saw a relatively large decline in domestic retail due to unfavorable subsidy policies.
In October, self-owned brand retail sales reached 1.21 million units, down 22% year-on-year and up 7% month-on-month. That month, self-owned brands' domestic retail share was 73.8%, up 4.8 percentage points year-on-year. Overall, self-owned brands performed relatively steadily in the new energy market and export market.
In October, mainstream joint venture brand retail sales reached 320,000 units, down 38% year-on-year and up 2% month-on-month. In October, German brands' retail share was 12.6%, down 1.1 percentage points year-on-year; Japanese brands' retail share was 10.2%, down 2.1 percentage points year-on-year. American brands' market retail share was 2.7%, down 1.1 percentage points year-on-year.
In October, luxury car retail sales reached 110,000 units, down 39% year-on-year and down 34% month-on-month. In October, luxury brands' retail share was 7%, down 1.4 percentage points year-on-year.
Exports: According to CPCA data, October passenger car exports (including complete vehicles and CKD) reached 928,000 units, up 68.5% year-on-year and up 1.0% month-on-month, accounting for 35% of passenger car manufacturers' sales (36% last month and 19% in the same period of 2025). In October, new energy vehicles accounted for 62.8% of total exports, a sharp increase of 20 percentage points from the same period. In October, self-owned brand exports reached 810,000 units, up 77% year-on-year; joint venture and luxury brand exports reached 118,000 units, up 28% year-on-year.
Production: In October, passenger car production reached 2.654 million units, down 10.1% year-on-year and up 2.4% month-on-month. In October, luxury brand production fell 26% year-on-year and 12% month-on-month; joint venture brand production fell 37% year-on-year and 15% month-on-month; self-owned brand production fell 2% year-on-year and rose 7% month-on-month.
Wholesale: In October, national passenger car manufacturer wholesale sales reached 2.633 million units, down 10.2% year-on-year and up 3.3% month-on-month; driven by the export surge, October passenger car wholesale year-on-year growth was 16.9 percentage points higher than retail growth. In October, self-owned automaker wholesale sales reached 2.090 million units, down 2% year-on-year and up 6% month-on-month. Mainstream joint venture automaker wholesale sales reached 368,000 units, down 36% year-on-year and up 2% month-on-month. Luxury car wholesale sales reached 174,000 units, down 25% year-on-year and down 22% month-on-month.
In October, the overall wholesale landscape of major passenger car manufacturers continued to change, with Leapmotor, GAC Aion, BAIC, and SAIC Passenger Vehicle achieving high year-on-year growth of more than 20%. In October, market concentration was relatively stable, with 8 passenger car manufacturers achieving wholesale sales of more than 100,000 units (6 last month and 7 in the same period last year), accounting for 63.5% of overall market share (54% last month and 55% in the same period). Manufacturers with wholesale volumes of 50,000-100,000 units accounted for 16.1% (21% last month and 22% in the same period), while those with 10,000-50,000 units accounted for 16.8% (22% last month and 22% in the same period).
Inventory: Due to relatively high market operating pressure in October, manufacturer wholesale sales were 21,000 units lower than production, while monthly domestic wholesale sales were 63,000 units higher than domestic retail sales. This year's destocking characteristics were prominent, with overall passenger car industry inventory falling by 600,000 units in January-October (down 100,000 units in the same period of 2025, down 940,000 units in the same period of 2024, and down 90,000 units in the same period of 2023).
New energy: In October, new energy passenger car production reached 1.835 million units, up 10.9% year-on-year and up 10.7% month-on-month. From January to October, cumulative new energy passenger car production reached 13.252 million units, up 9.9% year-on-year. In October, new energy passenger car wholesale sales reached 1.772 million units, up 9.8% year-on-year and up 6.2% month-on-month; from January to October, cumulative new energy passenger car wholesale sales reached 13.223 million units, up 9.5% year-on-year. In October, wholesale sales of conventional fuel passenger cars reached 860,000 units, down 35% year-on-year and down 2% month-on-month. In October, new energy passenger car market retail sales reached 1.109 million units, down 13.7% year-on-year and up 2.3% month-on-month; from January to October, new energy passenger car market retail sales reached 8.869 million units, down 12.9% year-on-year. In October, conventional fuel passenger car retail sales reached 530,000 units, down 45% year-on-year and down 0.1% month-on-month; among these, ordinary hybrid vehicles rose 28% year-on-year and 1.3% month-on-month. In October, new energy passenger car manufacturer exports reached 582,000 units, up 144.7% year-on-year and up 3.9% month-on-month; from January to October, new energy passenger car manufacturer exports reached 4.472 million units, up 139.7% year-on-year. In October, conventional fuel passenger car exports reached 346,000 units, up 11% year-on-year and down 4% month-on-month.
1) Wholesale: In October, the wholesale penetration rate of new energy vehicle manufacturers was 67.3%, up 12 percentage points from October 2025. In October, the new energy vehicle penetration rate of self-owned brands was 77.1%; among luxury cars it was 48.4%; and the new energy vehicle penetration rate of mainstream joint venture brands rose to 20.7%. In October, pure electric wholesale sales reached 1.192 million units, up 18.2% year-on-year and up 5.6% month-on-month; in October, narrow-definition plug-in hybrid sales reached 427,000 units, down 10.8% year-on-year and up 0.9% month-on-month; in October, extended-range wholesale sales reached 152,000 units, up 19.9% year-on-year and up 31.3% month-on-month. In the October new energy wholesale structure: pure electric accounted for 67.3% (up 4.8% year-on-year and down 0.4% month-on-month), narrow-definition plug-in hybrid accounted for 24.1% (down 5.5% year-on-year and down 1.3% month-on-month), and extended-range accounted for 8.6% (up 0.7% year-on-year and up 1.6% month-on-month). In October, B-class electric vehicle wholesale sales reached 307,000 units, up 12% year-on-year and down 7% month-on-month, accounting for 26% of the pure electric share, down 1.4 percentage points from the same period last year. In the pure electric market, the A00-class economical electric vehicle market faced relatively high pressure; in October, A00-class wholesale sales reached 101,000 units, down 41% year-on-year and up 29% month-on-month, accounting for an 8% share of pure electric, a sharp decline of 8.6 percentage points from the same period last year; A0-class wholesale sales reached 456,000 units, accounting for 38% of pure electric, up 13.6% year-on-year; A-class electric vehicles reached 269,000 units, accounting for 23% of pure electric, down 3.6 percentage points year-on-year; from the perspective of long-term popularization trends, economical electric vehicles have the greatest growth potential, and only the popularization of entry-level electric vehicles can truly drive sustainable incremental growth in the auto market. In October, there were 25 passenger car models with wholesale sales exceeding 20,000 units (23 last month), including Byd Company Limited Song (74,365 units), Geely Xingyuan (71,337 units), Byd Company Limited Yuan UP (69,216 units), Byd Company Limited Dolphin (39,096 units), Model Y (38,567 units), MG4 EV (35,876 units), Qiyuan Q05 (35,023 units), Byd Company Limited Seagull (32,287 units), Hongguang MINI (31,402 units), Wuling Bingo (30,954 units), Leapmotor A10 (30,687 units), Fangchengbao Tai 7 (30,274 units), Byd Company Limited Yuan PLUS (30,240 units), Tiggo 7 (30,239 units), Xingjian 7 (29,501 units), Model 3 (29,262 units), Chery JAECOO J5 (26,689 units), Xingyue L (26,433 units), Boyue (25,075 units), MG ZS (23,574 units), Jetour Traveler (23,306 units), Byd Company Limited Seal 06 (22,467 units), Byd Company Limited Sea Lion 06 (21,957 units), Byd Company Limited Sea Lion 05 (21,106 units), and XPeng L03 (20,637 units). Among them, new energy models occupied an absolutely dominant position.
2) Retail: In October, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China's overall passenger car market was 67.5%, up 10.5 percentage points from the same period last year and up 0.5 percentage points month-on-month. In October domestic retail, the new energy vehicle penetration rate among self-owned brands was 84.8%; among luxury cars it was 19.4%; while among mainstream joint venture brands it rose only to 19.7%. From the perspective of monthly new energy vehicle domestic retail share, in October self-owned brands' new energy vehicle retail share was 68.2%, down 2.6 percentage points year-on-year; mainstream joint venture brands' new energy vehicle share was 5.9%, up 2.6 percentage points year-on-year; the new forces' share was 23.9%, with brands such as Leapmotor driving the new forces' share up 1.2 percentage points year-on-year.
3) Exports: In October, new energy passenger car exports reached 582,000 units, up 144.7% year-on-year and up 3.9% month-on-month. They accounted for 62.8% of passenger car exports, up 20 percentage points from the same period last year; among these, pure electric accounted for 61.7% of new energy exports (62.6% in the same period last year), and A00+A0 class pure electric vehicles, as the core focus, accounted for 56.4% of pure electric exports (42.1% in the same period last year). Along with the emergence of China's new energy vehicle scale advantages and the expansion of market demand, more and more new energy brand products made in China are going abroad, and their recognition overseas continues to improve. Among these, narrow-definition plug-in hybrid accounted for 33.7% of new energy exports (34.7% in the same period last year), and extended-range accounted for 4.6% of new energy exports (2.7% in the same period last year). Although there has recently been some interference from external countries, the number of self-owned narrow-definition plug-in hybrid exports to developing countries is growing rapidly, with obvious advantages. Outstanding companies in October new energy exports were: Byd Company Limited (165,194 units), Chery Automobile (83,843 units), Geely Automobile (80,119 units), Tesla China (59,012 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (42,030 units), Changan Automobile (30,343 units), Leapmotor (21,132 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (16,866 units), XPeng Motors (13,326 units), GAC Aion (12,150 units), and Great Wall Motor (12,029 units). From the perspective of overseas system building, some self-owned brands have a relatively high proportion of CKD exports, with excellent internationalization performance. Among them, Great Wall Motor's CKD exports accounted for 31.1%, SAIC-GM-Wuling's CKD exports accounted for 41.9%, Leapmotor's CKD exports accounted for 8.0%, and SAIC Passenger Vehicle's CKD exports accounted for 27.6%.
4) Automakers: In October, the overall performance of new energy passenger car enterprises was relatively strong. Byd Company Limited, driven by both pure electric and plug-in hybrid, consolidated its leading position in self-owned brand new energy; narrow-definition plug-in hybrid represented by Byd Company Limited, Geely Automobile, and Chery Automobile continued to perform relatively strongly, while SAIC Passenger Vehicle, SAIC Volkswagen, and SAIC-GM showed relatively strong new energy growth. In terms of product launches, with the implementation of self-owned automakers' "multi-line simultaneous development" strategy in new energy routes, the market base continued to expand. The number of manufacturers with monthly new energy wholesale sales exceeding 10,000 units reached 23 (one fewer year-on-year and one fewer month-on-month), accounting for 95.5% of total new energy passenger vehicles (94.3% last month and 94.5% in the same period last year). Among them were Byd Company Limited (482,610 units), Geely Automobile (211,240 units), Chery Automobile (133,890 units), Leapmotor (103,025 units), Changan Automobile (99,494 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (97,241 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (76,479 units), Tesla China (67,829 units), XPeng Motors (50,237 units), Xiaomi Auto (50,168 units), Great Wall Motor (49,498 units), GAC Aion (43,160 units), NIO (34,246 units), Li Auto (29,025 units), Dongfeng Motor (28,141 units), Arcfox (24,857 units), Seres Auto (22,136 units), FAW Bestune (19,643 units), SAIC Volkswagen (17,975 units), FAW-Volkswagen (14,933 units), SAIC-GM (12,344 units), FAW Hongqi (11,629 units), and GAC Toyota (11,058 units). Enterprise brands with domestic new energy passenger car retail sales exceeding 20,000 units were: Byd Company Limited (250,301 units), Geely Automobile (131,708 units), Leapmotor (83,573 units), Changan Automobile (68,925 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (67,696 units), Xiaomi Auto (50,123 units), Chery Automobile (44,747 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (38,881 units), Great Wall Motor (37,469 units), XPeng Motors (36,911 units), NIO (34,030 units), HarmonyOS Smart Mobility (33,538 units), GAC Aion (30,011 units), Li Auto (27,018 units), Arcfox (24,857 units), Dongfeng Motor (21,262 units), and FAW Bestune (20,793 units).
5) New forces: In October, the new forces' retail share was 23.9%, up 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. Among new force models, pure electric sales accounted for 66.9%, a sharp decline from 74.3% in the same period; among new force pure electric vehicles, the share of sales in the 100,000-150,000 yuan range increased significantly. Independent new energy brands of traditional self-owned automakers performed relatively strongly as "second-generation startups," with a share of 15.3%, up 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Self-created new energy brands of major self-owned groups such as Zeekr, Yipai Technology, Aion, Arcfox, and Voyah performed excellently.
6) Ordinary hybrids: In October, ordinary hybrid passenger car wholesale sales reached 123,000 units, up 38% year-on-year and down 2% month-on-month. Among them were FAW Toyota (34,794 units), GAC Toyota (30,540 units), Geely Automobile (19,915 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (13,160 units), Great Wall Motor (10,749 units), Changan Ford (3,893 units), Dongfeng Honda (3,329 units), GAC Trumpchi (2,096 units), GAC Honda (1,752 units), and Changan Automobile (1,525 units). Self-owned ordinary hybrid models from Geely Automobile, SAIC Passenger Vehicle, and Changan Automobile emerged prominently in overseas markets.
2. Outlook for the National Passenger Car Market in November 2026
November has 21 working days, unchanged from last year, but 2 days more than October, so November has longer effective production and sales time. November is a time of relatively large fluctuations in the auto market, and the external economic environment and seasonal demand will jointly affect the auto market; historically, a relatively weak auto market often appears in November. November's effective production and sales time is more ample than October's, colder weather and migrant workers returning home will drive vehicle purchases in county and township markets, and there are structural opportunities for new energy and mid-to-low-end fuel vehicles. November is a reasonable time for proactive inventory building: year-end demand is relatively strong, consumers have relatively high demand for in-stock vehicles, and inventory reserves need to be prepared early. The current constraint is insufficient dealer confidence, with some dealers looking for opportunities to exit, weakening the channel reservoir function, and year-end market destocking pressure remains high.
The export side shows characteristics of "front-loaded rhythm and total volume overdraft." November exports will gradually fade, and vehicle purchase demand before Christmas abroad requires early transportation, with the shipment window concentrated before mid-November. This year's export rush will be noticeably stronger: the expected reduction in export tax rebate rates and the tightening of overseas tariff windows create overlapping incentives, with some orders delivered early, pushing up short-term export data while also overdrafting export momentum for next year's first quarter. This means that November exports' support for the wholesale side has a phased promoting effect and should not be linearly extrapolated as a trend of sustained strengthening.
According to CPCA's compilation of China Statistical Yearbook data: the vehicle fleet has surged but the accident rate has fallen precipitously, fully releasing technology safety dividends. Over eight years, the vehicle fleet increased from 232 million to 359 million units, growth of about 54.7%; while the accident rate per 10,000 vehicles dropped sharply from 7.2 to 3.9, a decline of 45.8%. Against the backdrop of substantial expansion in total vehicle volume, the number of accidents instead fell 15.8% and injuries fell 29.4%, fully demonstrating that under strong regulation, the popularization of passive safety (body structure, airbags) and active safety (AEB, assisted driving) technologies has significantly reduced per-vehicle risk, and enhanced safety confidence is conducive to private car popularization.
"Shrinking first purchases and dominant replacement purchases" weakened the year-end tailwind factor. Both ends of the replacement chain are simultaneously constrained: poor disposal of used cars suppresses the efficiency of replacement conversion; first-time buyer income expectations are relatively weak, lengthening the vehicle purchase decision cycle. Trade-in subsidies still have balances, but marginal effectiveness is diminishing, mainly providing a floor rather than driving incremental growth. Falling lithium carbonate prices benefit battery costs, but transmission has a time lag, and beneficiaries are concentrated among leading automakers with in-house battery development.
Overall, the November auto market will warm modestly month-on-month and the year-on-year decline will narrow, with export rush shipments providing short-term support but questionable sustainability. A true auto market recovery depends on whether the replacement chain can be unblocked and whether consumer confidence can stop falling.
3. China's Auto Industry Profit Margin Was 3.3% in January-September 2026, with September Sales Profit Margin at 1.4%
In January-September, industrial enterprises above designated size achieved operating revenue of 106.21 trillion yuan, up 6.6% year-on-year; operating costs were 90.30 trillion yuan, up 6.1%; the operating revenue profit margin was 5.68%, up 0.44 percentage points year-on-year.
In January-September 2026, profits in the electronics industry driven by artificial intelligence doubled, and upstream raw material industries saw high profit growth, greatly promoting overall industry profit improvement, but the auto industry faced dual pressure from rising costs and weak demand, with poor profitability.
In January-September 2026, automobile production was 23.37 million units, down 4% year-on-year; revenue was 8.0435 trillion yuan, up 2.6%; costs were 7.1627 trillion yuan, up 3.8%; profit was 267.5 billion yuan, down 23%; and the sales profit margin was 3.3%. Among this, in September automobile production was 3.06 million units, sales revenue was 1.0374 trillion yuan, up 0.6%, costs were 925.7 billion yuan, up 2.5%, profit was 14.2 billion yuan, down 68%, and the sales profit margin was 1.4%, at a low level for the past four years.
In 2026, various regions vigorously promoted the implementation of the "two new" policies, gradually and effectively releasing domestic demand vitality, but the improvement in auto industry efficiency clearly lagged behind other consumer goods. As the national anti-involution work continues to advance, the auto industry is squeezed by upstream sectors, with obvious cost increases, surging oil prices, and surging profits in non-ferrous metals and semiconductors, while end users maintain a serious wait-and-see attitude toward vehicle purchases, causing automakers' operating pressure to remain relatively high.
4. China's Auto Exports Reached 8.63 Million Units in January-September 2026
In January-September 2026, China's automobile exports reached 8.63 million units, with a year-on-year growth rate of 52%. In September, China's automobile exports reached 1.18 million units, up 55% year-on-year and up 13% month-on-month, with the overall auto market trend relatively strong.
This year's main growth drivers remain high oil prices, improved competitiveness of Chinese products, and continued growth in Global South markets. In September, exports to Mexico and the Philippines fell relatively sharply month-on-month.
In January-September 2026, Anhui's automobile export growth rate was 115%, ranking first, with Zhejiang second. Shanghai enterprises had relatively high average export prices.
The top 10 countries by total Chinese automobile exports in September 2026 were: Russia 112,962 units, the United Kingdom 58,740 units, Brazil 58,725 units, Australia 46,559 units, Belgium 45,369 units, Thailand 39,323 units, the United Arab Emirates 39,120 units, Mexico 38,962 units, Italy 37,731 units, and Spain 34,051 units. Among them, the top five by incremental growth compared with the same period were: Russia 43,836 units, Brazil 34,423 units, the United Kingdom 31,173 units, Thailand 25,615 units, and Italy 25,024 units. In January-September 2026, our exports to Russia recovered relatively strongly.
The top 10 countries by cumulative total vehicle exports in January-September 2026 were: Russia 752,602 units, Brazil 539,675 units, the United Kingdom 424,173 units, Australia 373,674 units, Belgium 367,879 units, Mexico 361,518 units, Italy 245,836 units, the United Arab Emirates 237,970 units, the Philippines 235,933 units, and Thailand 224,121 units. Among them, the top five by incremental growth compared with the same period were: Russia 394,809 units, Brazil 321,527 units, the United Kingdom 199,582 units, Australia 150,298 units, and Italy 136,011 units.
This year's full-year customs data show differentiated growth rates across vehicle types: passenger vehicles overall showed a strong trend, while trucks performed relatively poorly in September. Pickup truck growth improved in September, heavy truck exports fell back from high levels, and other truck markets showed relatively strong trends. Among buses, large and medium buses performed relatively weakly, and the share of light bus exports rebounded to 63% in September.
In September 2026, China's new energy vehicle exports reached 612,000 units, up 104% year-on-year; in January-September, China's cumulative new energy vehicle exports reached 4.07 million units, up 75% year-on-year, a very good performance, with September new energy vehicle exports up 23% month-on-month.
The top 10 countries by total Chinese new energy vehicle exports in September 2026 were: Belgium 43,675 units, the United Kingdom 43,548 units, Brazil 42,130 units, Thailand 37,714 units, Australia 33,437 units, Germany 26,465 units, Spain 24,711 units, Italy 24,134 units, Russia 17,520 units, and the Philippines 17,027 units. Among them, the top five by incremental growth compared with the same period were: Brazil 30,759 units, Thailand 25,201 units, Australia 24,072 units, the United Kingdom 24,027 units, and Belgium 22,806 units.
The top 10 countries by total Chinese new energy vehicle exports in January-September 2026 were: Brazil 379,234 units, Belgium 351,032 units, the United Kingdom 313,638 units, Australia 270,577 units, Thailand 213,455 units, the Philippines 205,197 units, Germany 142,382 units, Italy 133,234 units, Spain 131,120 units, and South Korea 125,164 units. Among them, the top five by incremental growth compared with the same period were: Brazil 237,917 units, Australia 161,462 units, the United Kingdom 160,373 units, Belgium 127,500 units, and Thailand 116,136 units.
Different types of new energy vehicle exports showed obvious differentiation: pure electric passenger vehicle exports in January-September 2026 were mainly to: Belgium 245,860 units, Thailand 198,551 units, Brazil 196,069 units, Australia 192,382 units, and the United Kingdom 159,580 units. The main destinations for plug-in hybrid passenger vehicle exports in January-September 2026 were: Brazil 181,165 units, the United Kingdom 151,559 units, Belgium 101,962 units, Italy 84,119 units, and the United Arab Emirates 76,601 units. The main destinations for cumulative plug-in hybrid truck exports in 2026 were: Australia 17,346 units, Argentina 3,849 units, Mexico 2,754 units, Pakistan 2,500 units, Chile 2,220 units, and New Zealand 2,064 units. The main destinations for pure electric bus exports for the full year this year were: Nepal 2,325 units, Ethiopia 1,236 units, Pakistan 829 units, and Israel 739 units.
5. China's Auto Imports Reached 290,000 Units in January-September 2026
In September 2026, imported vehicle imports reached 21,000 units, down 49% year-on-year and down 6% month-on-month. In January-September 2026, imported automobiles reached 290,000 units, down 20% year-on-year.
This year, passenger vehicles accounted for more than 99% of the automobile import structure, an absolutely dominant position; if pickups among light trucks are included, the proportion of passenger vehicles is even higher.
In January-September 2026, imported hybrids grew 15%, a very good performance, while pure electric passenger vehicles fell 27% and plug-in hybrids fell 54%, with imported new energy passenger vehicles performing relatively weakly.
Imported passenger vehicle models were concentrated in gasoline models with displacement below 2 liters; last year 3-4 liter models were relatively resilient, while this year 1.5-2 liter models were relatively better. In September, downward pressure on imported vehicles remained relatively high.
The top 10 countries by imports in September 2026 were: Japan 7,399 units, Germany 7,255 units, the United Kingdom 2,488 units, Slovakia 1,418 units, Mexico 818 units, the United States 791 units, Austria 355 units, Belgium 112 units, South Korea 95 units, and Italy 90 units. Among them, the top five by incremental growth compared with the same period were: Mexico 307 units, Austria 107 units, Belgium 42 units, South Korea 41 units, and France 16 units.
The top 10 countries by imports in January-September 2026 were: Japan 136,652 units, Germany 66,438 units, the United States 28,350 units, Slovakia 20,422 units, the United Kingdom 18,803 units, Mexico 4,974 units, Austria 4,193 units, Thailand 2,270 units, Italy 786 units, and South Korea 760 units. Among them, the top five by incremental growth compared with the same period were: Thailand 2,027 units, Austria 1,948 units, Mexico 1,576 units, China 540 units, and South Africa 373 units.
In January-September this year, imported vehicle retail sales were 250,000 units, down 32%, a relatively poor performance, and in September they fell to 27,000 units, down 38% year-on-year, a very poor performance, with future pressure still high. Overall demand for domestic and imported luxury cars in the domestic market was relatively weak, with relatively high pressure in luxury car markets in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, and other regions. This year, demand was relatively strong in oil-producing regions in the north and central and western regions such as Xinjiang and Shandong.
6. China's Sales Accounted for 32% of the World Auto Market in January-September 2026
According to statistics from the world automobile organization, global automobile production continued to grow, reaching 96.38 million units in 2025, up 5% from 91.77 million units in 2024, with China accounting for 35.4% of world production. Global automobile sales continued to grow, reaching 96.89 million units in 2025, up 6%, with China accounting for 35.4% of world sales.
In January-September 2026, cumulative world automobile sales were 72.52 million units, up 3% year-on-year; among this, single-month sales in September were 8.74 million units, up only 2% year-on-year and up 12.4% month-on-month, with global auto market growth momentum relatively weak.
Cumulative global automobile sales in January-September 2026 were 72.52 million units. By country, China's sales were 23.27 million units, with a 32.1% share, clearly down from 35.4% in 2025; U.S. sales were 12.30 million units, with a 17.0% share, declining slightly; India performed impressively, with its share rising to 6.7%, becoming a growth highlight.
From the perspective of share changes over the years, China's global share continued to rise from 2022 to 2025, reaching a phased high in 2025. The shares of major European countries were generally stable with a slight decline, while emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia maintained stable shares. In the first nine months of 2026, the decline in China's market sales was the core reason for the change in global share, while the rapid growth of emerging markets such as India partly offset the growth pressure from the Chinese and U.S. markets and supported the global auto market in maintaining slight positive growth.
With the East rising and the West falling, apart from Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Suzuki, and Tata, other international brands saw relatively large share declines in 2026. Compared with 2019, Chinese self-owned brands have comprehensively increased their world share this year. Self-owned brands such as Geely, Byd Company Limited, Chery, SAIC, and Changan performed relatively strongly. The global trend toward electrification has also led some established international automakers to gradually weaken. In addition to favorable factors such as Suzuki's better performance in the Indian market, other international brands saw comprehensive and relatively large share declines.
7. China's New Energy Passenger Vehicles Accounted for 63% of World New Energy Vehicles in January-September 2026
In January-September 2026, world new energy passenger vehicles reached 18.38 million units, up 15% year-on-year, among which September new energy vehicle sales were 2.65 million units, up 16% year-on-year and up 18% month-on-month, with growth returning to historically normal levels. In January-September 2026, the new energy vehicle share reached 25.3%, among which pure electric vehicles accounted for 17.8% and plug-in hybrids accounted for 7.6%. Hybrids accounted for 8%, an excellent performance.
European new energy passenger vehicle sales in 2025 were 3.86 million units, an increase of 960,000 units from the same period last year, up 33%. Preliminary statistics show European new energy passenger vehicles in September were 544,000 units, up 38% year-on-year, and 3.68 million units in January-September 2026, up 35% year-on-year. Due to high tariffs and price increases from the cancellation of new energy subsidies, U.S. new energy vehicle sales in September 2026 were 120,000 units, down 44% year-on-year, and U.S. new energy vehicle sales in January-September were 950,000 units, down 32%.
World new energy vehicle penetration has generally shown a rapid upward trend, reaching 13.1% in 2022, 15.9% in 2023, 19.5% in 2024, and 23.6% in 2025. In 2026, world new energy vehicle penetration was 25.3%, among which Germany reached 34.2%, Norway reached 83%, and the United Kingdom 36.7%, while the United States was only 7% and Japan only 4%, so the imbalance in world new energy development is extremely obvious.
In January-September 2026, China's new energy passenger vehicles accounted for 63% of the world share, reaching a relatively good level of 65.5% in the third quarter. Among them, for pure electric: in January-September 2026, China's share of the world pure electric vehicle market was 59%; at the beginning of the year, China's pure electric vehicle performance was temporarily poor due to the Spring Festival factor, and in the third quarter it reached 62%; among them, for plug-in: in January-September 2026, China's share of the world plug-in hybrid market reached a high level of 71%, and in the third quarter it reached 74%, showing China's super-strong performance in the world plug-in hybrid market.
In 2025, self-owned new energy passenger vehicles' overseas market sales share reached 15.8%, up 6.2 percentage points. In 2026, self-owned new energy passenger vehicles' overseas market sales share rose sharply, reaching 27.8% in September, a further sharp jump of 12 percentage points.
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