CPCA China Passenger Car Sales December 2025: Full Market Report

CPCA China Passenger Car Sales December 2025 data confirmed a cooling but still structurally strong Chinese auto market. The China Passenger Car Association released production, wholesale, and retail figures covering sedans, SUVs, and MPVs, offering a clear picture of how domestic, joint-venture, luxury, and new energy vehicle segments performed at year-end.
China’s retail passenger vehicle deliveries in December reached 2.261 million units, down 14.0 percent year-on-year, while cumulative retail sales for 2025 climbed to 23.744 million units, reflecting a 3.8 percent annual increase. This mixed trend shows short-term pressure but sustained annual growth momentum.
CPCA China Passenger Car Sales December 2025 – Retail Trends
Luxury passenger vehicles recorded retail sales of 290,000 units, a mild 1 percent annual decline. Domestic Chinese brands delivered 1.46 million units, decreasing 11 percent year-on-year but expanding their market share to 64.3 percent, up 2.2 percentage points from last year.
Mainstream joint-venture brands experienced the sharpest contraction, with sales dropping 27 percent to 510,000 units. Their regional performance was uneven:

• German brands held 14.9 percent market share, down 1.3 points

• Japanese brands slipped to 12.1 percent, also down 1.3 points

• American brands rose slightly to 6.8 percent

• Korean and other European brands saw marginal gains

These shifts confirm the continued dominance of Chinese OEMs in the domestic passenger car market.
Wholesale and Production Performance
December wholesale volumes stood at 2.789 million units, reflecting a 9 percent annual decline. Domestic manufacturers shipped 1.912 million units, down 5 percent, while joint-venture OEMs saw a steeper 21 percent drop to 574,000 units. Luxury vehicle wholesales reached 302,000 units, slipping 5 percent.
Passenger car production in December totaled 2.791 million units, down 4.6 percent year-on-year. Luxury brand output rose 5 percent, while joint-venture production fell sharply by 20 percent. Domestic brand production edged down by only 1 percent, again highlighting their relative resilience.
New Energy Vehicle Market Highlights
Wholesale deliveries of new energy passenger cars reached 1.563 million units in December, up 3.3 percent year-on-year, pushing cumulative 2025 volume to 15.319 million units, a strong 25.2 percent increase.
Segment-wise NEV performance included:

• BEVs: 940,000 units, up 5.8 percent

• PHEVs: 476,000 units, down 3.8 percent

• REEVs: 147,000 units, up 13.4 percent

• ICE hybrids: 90,000 units, down 18 percent

BEV demand remained the backbone of China’s electric vehicle market.
BEV Size-Class Breakdown
In December, battery electric vehicle sales were spread across multiple size segments:

• A00 micro cars: 117,000 units, 12.4 percent share

• A0 small cars: 244,000 units, 26.0 percent share

• A-class compacts: 214,000 units, 22.8 percent share

• B-class midsize cars: 303,000 units, 32.2 percent share

While midsize BEVs led volume, micro cars continued to lose market share.
Leading NEV Manufacturers
Twenty-four automakers exceeded 10,000 NEV wholesale units in December, together accounting for nearly 95 percent of the market. The top performers included BYD, Geely, Tesla China, Changan, Chery, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Leapmotor, Seres, Xiaomi EV, NIO, and Li Auto, underlining the intense competition within China’s EV sector.
Retail sales of new energy passenger cars reached 1.337 million units in December, while full-year retail volume hit 12.809 million units, reflecting growth rates of 2.6 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively.
Export Growth Accelerates
China exported 273,000 new energy passenger vehicles in December, a surge of nearly 120 percent year-on-year. BEVs accounted for almost 58 percent of shipments, and small A0 and A00 models made up more than two-thirds of exports. Total 2025 NEV exports reached 2.422 million units, up 86.2 percent.
BYD led monthly NEV exports, followed by Chery, Geely, Leapmotor, and SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, reinforcing China’s expanding footprint in global electric vehicle markets.
Market Outlook and 2026 Expectations
The expiration of vehicle purchase tax incentives boosted December NEV retail demand to a record level, with new energy vehicles outperforming internal combustion models by a 32.6 percentage point growth margin. With NEV penetration approaching 60 percent, China has firmly entered an EV-dominated phase.
The timing of the 2026 Spring Festival is expected to support stronger production and sales activity in January. Market analysts anticipate a U-shaped sales curve in 2026, with full-year volumes broadly matching 2025 levels. Export growth above 10 percent is forecast to continue, although inventory pressure in the domestic market will remain a challenge.

Top 10 Chinese Passenger Car Makers by Retail Sales
Rank Maker December 2025 (1,000 units) y/y

• BYD 340 -15.7%

• Geely 197 5.9%

• FAW-VW 143 -10.8%

• Chery 120 -40.6%

• Changan Auto 110 -30.3%

• SAIC-VW 97 -35.9%

• Tesla China 94 13.2%

• HIMA 90 81.1%

• SAIC-GM-Wuling 82 -36.5%

• FAW Toyota 75 -22.2%