Passenger Link Branch: From September 1 to 13, retail sales of 515,000 vehicles in the national passenger car market fell 23% year on year, up 4% month on month
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 16, the Passenger Link Branch released a weekly car market scan. From September 1 to 13, the national passenger car market retailed 515,000 vehicles, down 23% from the same period in September last year, up 4% from the same period last month. The cumulative retail sales volume of 12.231,000 units since this year was a decrease of 21%; from September 1 to 13, passenger car manufacturers sold 55,000 vehicles, down 22% from the same period last month, up 22% from the same period last month, and a cumulative total of 17.733 million vehicles this year, down 6% year on year.
New energy: From September 1 to 13, the national passenger car new energy market retailed 362,000 vehicles, down 10% from the same period last year, up 16% from the same period last month. The cumulative retail sales volume of 7.036 million units this year was 7.036 million units, down 12% year on year; from September 1 to 13, passenger car manufacturers across the country sold 411,000 new energy vehicles, up 10.1% from the same period last month, up 26% from the same period last month, and have sold a total of 189 thousand vehicles since this year, up 9% year on year.
Penetration rate: On September 1-13, the penetration rate of NEV retail sales in the national passenger car market was 70.3%; on September 1-13, the NEV wholesale penetration rate of passenger car manufacturers across the country was 74.7%.
Production: In the first to second week of September, the country produced 215,000 pure fuel light vehicles, down 51% year on year, up 71% from the same period last month; in the first to second week of September, overall hybrid and plug-in hybrid production was 174,000 units, down 20% year on year, up 33% from the same period last month.
Retail sales trend in the national passenger car market in September 2026
In the first week of September, the national passenger car market sold an average of 35,000 vehicles per day, down 19% from the same period in September last year, and down 1% from the same period last month.
In the second week of September, the national passenger car market sold 44,000 vehicles per day, down 26% from the same period in September last year, and up 8% from the same period last month.
From September 1 to 13, 515,000 vehicles were retailed in the national passenger car market, down 23% from the same period last year, and up 4% from the same period last month; the cumulative retail sales volume since this year was 12.231,000 units, a decrease of 21% over the previous month.
In September, the market entered the traditional “gold nine silver ten” peak consumption season, and terminal passenger traffic is expected to continue to pick up. At the macro level, the manufacturing PMI rebounded month-on-month and the CPI was stable in August. The economy showed operating characteristics of “marginal recovery in demand and stabilization at a low level of total volume”, providing bottom support for the recovery of the car market. However, September faced a high base in the same period last year — the rush to buy in September 2025 before subsidies were stopped in some regions drove retail sales to a record peak in that month, and the effects of the high base will further inhibit the recovery in September this year.
In September, the passenger car market entered the traditional peak sales season. Local consumer promotion policies and car companies' promotional activities continued, which helped release consumer demand. New products launched in the early stages continued to rise, and new cars such as the newly launched Pengcheng series brought increased popularity to support market performance. In previous years, the “Golden Nine” market was generally on the rise. When the first purchase and exchange were released, both fuel and new energy could be increased; this year was a stock game. This year, it was a stock game. This year, the increase was mainly concentrated on new energy sources, and there seemed to be no new demand for fuel vehicles.
Since the end of July, the cumulative increase in gasoline during the year has exceeded 830 yuan/ton, and the appeal of new electric vehicles is becoming stronger, and the willingness to consume fuel vehicles continues to be suppressed. Prices of upstream raw materials have declined somewhat. Coupled with the gradual deepening of the “anti-internal volume” consensus in the industry, upstream profits have skyrocketed; however, price pressure is transmitted from upstream to the vehicle end. Although inventories are not high, the pressure on dealers to operate continues to increase.
Wholesale sales trend of passenger car manufacturers across the country in September 2026
In the first week of September, passenger car manufacturers across the country sold an average of 35,000 vehicles per day, down 21% from the same period in September last year, and up 13% from the same period last month.
In the second week of September, passenger car manufacturers across the country sold 49,000 vehicles per day, down 23% from the same period in September last year, and up 28% from the same period last month.
From September 1 to 13, passenger car manufacturers across the country wholesaled 55,000 vehicles, down 22% from the same period last year and up 22% from the same period last month; since this year, 17.733 million passenger cars have been sold, down 6% year on year.
In previous years, the “Golden Nine, Silver Ten” fuel vehicles were able to get the cake. Demand for fuel trucks under high fuel prices this year will be further compressed. Due to the continued sharp decline in fuel vehicle retail sales, fuel vehicle domestic demand production fell 51% in the first two weeks of September. As a result, manufacturer sales were generally sluggish, and wholesale fuel vehicle manufacturers fell 53% in the first two weeks. Most NEV brands currently lack popular models, but manufacturers also need a stable production pace. As a huge industrial chain system, it is impossible to simply schedule production according to orders; they also need to consider production and sales targets. Most manufacturer sales and direct order sales have been converted to target sales, and sales targets for some models must be achieved without a backlog of orders. As a result, direct retail sales by manufacturers improved slightly in the first two weeks, and the penetration rate of new energy sources was abnormally high.
The value added of the automobile industry increased by 8.7% in August 2026
Since this year, policies and measures to expand domestic demand and promote consumption have continued to bear fruit. The quality of development of China's consumer market has continued to improve, and new consumption formats and models are bursting with vitality. The low-end car market is the key to the development of the car market. Since the low-end car market is not strong, consumption is bound to be poor.
From January to August, total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 32.756.9 billion yuan, an increase of 1.1% over the previous year. Among them, automobile consumption was 2,580.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14%; retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles amounted to 30,176.4 billion yuan, an increase of 2.7%. In August, total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 3,982.4 billion yuan, an increase of 0.4% over the previous year. Among them, automobile consumption was 327.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 19%; retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles were 3,654.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5%. From January to August, the sales area of newly built commercial housing was 498.8 million square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 12.1%; of these, the residential sales area fell 13.0%.
In August, the value added of large-scale industries actually increased by 5.2% year-on-year. Among them, the value added of the automobile industry increased by 8.7% in August, and the automobile industry's production performance was strong. From January to August, the value added of large-scale industries increased by 5.3% year-on-year, and automobiles increased by 7.4%.
From January to August 2026, automobile production was 20.31 million units, down 3% year on year; production of new energy vehicles was 10.59 million units, up 11%; penetration rate was 52%; production of fuel vehicles was 9.72 million units, down 15% year on year; automobile production in August 2026 was 2.7 million units, down 3% year on year; production of new energy vehicles was 1.65 million units, up 22% year on year, penetration rate 61%; fuel vehicle production was 1.05 million units, down 26% year on year.
From January to August 2026, fixed asset investment in the automotive industry fell 6% year on year, and is still higher than the average of all industries of -7.2%. Recently, investment pressure has been high in the tertiary sector. In particular, investment in public infrastructure, education, culture, and health care has declined sharply.
Currently, despite efforts to stabilize international oil prices, the impact of high oil prices on the stability of the industrial chain supply chain and consumer demand is still quite obvious. Problems such as high prices, a sharp rise in clothing and food expenses, insufficient effective demand, and lack of market vitality still exist, and the task of steady industry growth is still arduous.
Since the 2026 trade-in passenger car subsidies were far less strong than commercial vehicles, commercial vehicle subsidies contributed particularly well to the growth of NEV retail sales, and NEV passenger vehicles plummeted. Currently, there is a lot of pressure on low-end passenger car consumption. It is hoped that in the future, there will be a strong long-term continuation policy, such as reducing personal taxes for car buyers, promoting new energy vehicles to the countryside, setting standards for economical electric vehicles, optimizing C7 economy electric vehicle driver license applications, greater tax concessions for compliant pure electric vehicles with a battery life of less than 200 kilometers, and encouraging marriage and childbearing car purchases, etc., to drive car purchase consumption to promote economic growth.
In August, the country's pickup truck exports accounted for 70%
Pickup truck production and sales: In August 2026, the pickup truck market sold 54,000 units, up 29.5% year on year and down 3.9% month on month, at the highest level in the past 5 years. Sales in January-August were 455,000 units, up 17.8%.
The pattern of the domestic market and export market is clearly differentiated. Great Wall Motor continues to maintain its leading position as a strong pickup truck, and its performance at home and abroad is relatively stable. Driven by continued year-on-year growth in exports, SAIC Chase, JAC, Zhengzhou Nissan, and Changan have performed well. In the domestic pickup truck retail market, Great Wall Motors, Jiangling Motors, Zhengzhou Nissan, Radar Motors, Jiangxi Isuzu, etc. performed well, and the domestic “one super pickup truck” pattern continues to be maintained.
Pickup truck exports: Overseas markets for pickups have huge domestic market demand. Don't expect unrealistic expectations from the domestic market. Going overseas is the only option for high growth of pickup truck companies. In August 2026, the country exported 38,000 pickup trucks, up 82% year on year, down 5% month on month; from January to August 2026, the country exported 266,000 pickup trucks, an increase of 45% year on year, and the industry's share of exports continued to be high. Pickup truck exports accounted for 45% of total pickup truck sales in 2024, pickup truck exports reached 50% in 2025, cumulative pickup truck exports reached 55% in 2026, and pickup truck exports reached 70% in August 2026. China's autonomous pickup truck exports increased quite well.
New energy pickups: In 2024, sales of new energy pickups were 21,000 units, up 170% year on year; in 2025, 73,000 new energy pickups, up 243%; in August 2026, 90,000 new energy pickups, up 150% year on year, down 2% month on month; in January-August 2026, 62,000 new energy pickups, up 18% year on year; forming a trend where new energy pickups were slightly weaker than the overall growth rate of fuel pickups at the beginning of the year.
With the development of electrification and passenger use, the space in the pickup truck market will gradually improve. Among new energy pickup truck sales in August: BYD pickup sold 4,300 units overseas, Geely Radar electric pickup trucks 2,202 units, Zhengzhou Nissan 1,058 units, Changan Zengcheng pickup truck 606 units, and other pickup truck companies' new energy vehicles also had a certain scale. With the launch of the domestic new energy pickup truck market and the gradual cultivation of the market, it is expected that Chinese pickups will develop faster in the future to meet domestic and foreign demand.
Passenger car market price segment tracking in August 2026
In 2026, car market sales shrank drastically, unit prices increased, demand in the low-end market was insufficient, and consumption was passively upgraded. Price changes are mainly affected by structural changes and changes in sales volume. The volume-price relationship is the opposite of high prices falling and low prices increasing. The average price of a passenger car in 2025 was 168,000 yuan, down 16,000 yuan from the average price in 2024. In August 2026, the average price of passenger cars was 171,000 yuan, an increase of 50,000 yuan over the same period. Among them, the price of conventional fuel vehicles continues to rise. The market contraction is obvious in the middle and low end, while the high-end shrinks slowly, so it has risen from 166,000 yuan in 2021 to 188,000 yuan in 2024. In 2025, with the rapid contraction of high-end fuel vehicles, the average price in 2025 dropped to 177,000 yuan. The average price of conventional fuel vehicles was 179,000 yuan in August 2026, and the overall fuel vehicle market shrank sharply.
However, the average price of new energy vehicles has gradually declined recently, from an average price of 184,000 yuan in 2023 to an average price of 180,000 yuan in 2024. The average price of new energy vehicles is 160,000 yuan in 2025. The price drop is significant. However, in August 2026, it was 166,000 yuan, and the price increase was 80,000 yuan. The volume drop and price increase reflected structural changes in NEV consumption, and entry-level consumption was curtailed.
In 2026, the average price of luxury cars was 330,000 yuan, down 30,000 yuan from 2025; in August 2026, the average price of luxury cars was 330,000 yuan, up 20,000 yuan over the same period. In 2026, the joint venture brand was 172,000 yuan, which is basically the same as in 2025; the average price of 170,000 yuan in August 2026 was basically the same as in the same period. The new forces in 2026 were 234,000 yuan, down 70,000 yuan from 2025; the average price in August 2026 was 222,000 yuan, down 17,000 yuan from the same period. In 2026, the average price of independent brands was 129,000 yuan, an increase of 70,000 yuan over the same period; in August 2026, the average price of independent brands was 129,000 yuan, an increase of 80,000 yuan over the same period.
The popularity of automobiles in China is only 254 units/1,000 people, and the popularity of automobile consumption is the most important trend in the future. The trend is that car prices continue to fall due to the low cost of electrification. Currently, with the withdrawal of the vehicle purchase tax exemption policy and the upgrading of duty-free technical indicators for new energy vehicles, some models with short battery life and high electricity consumption are under pressure to be revised. The sharp contraction of A00 class electric vehicles in August brought about an increase in average prices, a rise in the car purchase threshold, a decrease in the size of the purchasable group, and a strong pressure to increase sales in 2026.