China recorded 1,529,309 passenger-car terminal sales, based on insurance registrations, in August 2026. The total rose 4.9% from July but was down 22.1% year on year. New-energy vehicles accounted for 982,028 sales, or 64.2% of the market, and claimed 16 of the month’s 20 best-selling models. Battery-electric sales reached 688,002, while plug-in hybrids fell 26% year on year and extended-range hybrids fell 22.8%. The top 20 models together represented 23.6% of all sales.
Geely Xingyuan led the rankings with 39,486 units, up 21.4% month on month. Leapmotor A10 placed third at 24,984, and BYD Dolphin was eighth with 16,779. Tesla Model 3 sales rebounded to 20,994 from 2,113 in July; the report links the swing to a change in export volumes from Tesla’s Shanghai factory, which shipped 31,652 Model 3s abroad in July and 9,682 in August. Xiaomi SU7 sales, by contrast, declined 21.8% to 16,410.
Only four combustion-powered models made the top 20: Toyota Corolla Cross, Toyota RAV4, Geely Xingyue L and Geely Binyue. Nissan Sylphy and Volkswagen Magotan, previously regular entrants, both missed the list; Magotan recorded 11,418 sales. Six new-energy models entered the rankings, including Leapmotor A10, Li Auto i6 and BYD Song Ultra. The report also notes that Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, among other models, fell out of the top 20.