China’s retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) reached 1.084 million in September 2026, down 16.7% from a year earlier but up 7.8% from August, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). It was the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year decline. Sales for the first nine months totaled 7.758 million, 12.8% lower than in the same period of 2025.
Despite the drop in volume, NEVs made up a record 67% of passenger-car retail sales, 9.1 percentage points above September 2025. The share reached 84.5% among domestic brands, compared with 44.9% for luxury brands and 15.9% for mainstream joint-venture brands. NEV retail sales fell 19% at domestic brands, while mainstream joint-venture brands grew 36% and luxury brands declined 8%. The CPCA linked steep declines in domestic A00-class EVs to unfavorable subsidy policies.
Wholesale NEV sales climbed 11.3% year on year and 10% month on month to 1.666 million, with penetration reaching 65.4%. Battery EVs grew 18.3% to 1.126 million; plug-in hybrids slipped 0.1% to 423,000, and extended-range EVs fell 4% to 117,000. NEV exports rose 163.5% to 558,000 and accounted for 60.8% of passenger-car exports. Nine-month NEV exports totaled 3.887 million, up 138.8%.
The CPCA cited an earlier Mid-Autumn Festival, a high comparison base from last year’s pre-subsidy buying, elevated oil prices, and chip and memory supply constraints as factors affecting the market. It expects trade-in support to strengthen later in the year and NEV penetration to remain above 65%, with October’s additional working days potentially helping showroom traffic recover.