New energy passenger vehicles had a soft start to September in China, but the pullback was modest next to what happened to combustion cars. Retail deliveries of NEVs totaled 596,000 units between September 1 and 20, according to China Passenger Car Association data — 9% lower than a year earlier, though 14% above the same stretch of August. NEVs still claimed 67.9% of all passenger-car retail sales over the period.
The total market fared much worse: passenger-car retail came in at 878,000 units, down 22% year-on-year, pushing the year-to-date figure to 12.59 million units, a 21% drop. NEV retail for the year to date stands at 7.27 million units, down 12%. Wholesale was healthier on the NEV side — 740,000 units, up 8% year-on-year and representing 73.9% of all wholesale volume, with the year-to-date NEV wholesale count up 9% at 10.518 million.
Gasoline vehicles were the main source of weakness. Production of light vehicles powered solely by internal combustion engines collapsed 52% year-on-year to 330,000 units in the first three weeks of the month, while combined output of conventional and plug-in hybrids slipped 23% to 265,000. The CPCA argued that this September's traditional peak is no longer delivering broad gains: first-time buyers and upgraders are drawing from the same limited demand pool, making the contest between powertrains close to zero-sum, with almost all growth flowing to NEVs.
Activity strengthened as the month progressed, with average daily retail climbing from 35,050 units in the first week to 51,824 in the third. For the full month, the association expects NEV retail of around 1.11 million units — roughly 10.5% more than in August — for a penetration rate near 65.7%.