China sold 1.794 million vehicles, down 12.1% Y-o-Y, January 2025

In January, China sold 1.794 million passenger vehicles in retails, a year-on-year decrease of 12.1% and a month-on-month decrease of 31.9%. This is at a historical low with a month-on-month growth rate decreased by 31.9%, which was second only to the 41% decrease in January 2023, according to the Chinese Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Specifically, the number of sedans, MPVs, and SUVs sold in retails were 826,000, 78,000, and 889,000 units, respectively. The low sales volume is due to the following:

• The emergence of La Niña since the beginning of winter, causing abnormal northerly winds in the Eastern part of China, resulting in significantly less precipitation and higher temperatures, leading to lower vehicle demand.
• Due to the early Chinese New Year compared to previous years, many consumers completed their replacement purchase at the end of 2024 to align with the national automobile scrapping and replacement policy.
• The effective sales duration in January was more than four days less.

Furthermore, domestic Chinese brands sold 1.09 million vehicles, down 2% year-on-year and 33% month-on-month. Joint venture brands sold 490,000 vehicles, down 27% year-on-year and 30% month-on-month. In particular, the retail share of German brands was 18.4%, Japanese brands was 13.4%, and American brands was 5.3%.

New energy vehicles (NEVs)

Taking a look at NEV performance, 940,000 units were produced, a year-on-year increase of 25.8% and a month-on-month decrease of 35.1%. 744,000 units were sold in retails, a year-on-year increase of 10.5% and a month-on-month decrease of 42.9%.

Additionally, 139,000 units were exported, a year-on-year increase of 29.4% and a month-on-month increase of 13.9%, accounted for 36.6% of passenger car exports. Among them, pure electric vehicles accounted for 66% of NEV exports.

The manufacturers with the highest passenger vehicle export volume were: BYD (66,336 units), Tesla China (29,535 units), Chery (8,662 units), Changan (4,404 units), Dongfeng (3,546 units), Geely (3,495 units), SGMW (3,006 units), Great Wall Motor (2,878 units), and SAIC (2,852 units).

Source: CPCA