On October 13, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released its analysis of China's passenger car market for September 2025.

**Key September 2025 Market Characteristics:**

September passenger car manufacturer retail, export, wholesale and production all achieved record monthly highs, with new energy vehicle exports reaching historical peaks for any month. Cumulative domestic passenger car retail for January-August 2025 achieved positive growth of 9.5%, with January-September cumulative growth moderating to 9.2%. The gradual monthly decline in year-to-date growth from July to September indicates an emerging "low early, high mid, stable late" market trend for this year.

While direct price competition appeared relatively moderate this year, various indirect promotional measures emerged including annual model upgrades, adjusted owner benefits, and "dual new" policy incentives combined with manufacturer subsidies. September new energy vehicle promotional intensity increased slightly month-on-month to 10.2%.

September pure electric vehicle market (wholesale) grew 32.4% year-on-year, plug-in hybrid grew 8.4%, and extended-range vehicles grew 8.7%. Among new energy startups, the structural ratio of pure electric to extended-range shifted from 50%:50% last year to 70%:30%.

State-owned group domestic brands demonstrated strong growth momentum, with five major state-owned groups (SAIC, Dongfeng, Changan, Chery, BAIC) achieving combined 25% year-on-year growth in September. Second-generation independent brands like Deepal, Voyah, and ARCFOX showed particularly strong performance.

September new energy vehicle domestic retail penetration rate reached 57.8%, reflecting steady growth supported by scrappage renewal, replacement renewal, and universal policies like new energy vehicle purchase tax exemption.

For January-September 2025, domestic fuel vehicle exports totaled 2.08 million units (down 9%), while domestic new energy exports reached 1.32 million units (up 125%), with new energy accounting for 38.9% of domestic exports.

**Retail Sales:** September national passenger car retail reached 2.241 million units, up 6.3% year-on-year and 11.0% month-on-month. Year-to-date cumulative retail totaled 17.005 million units, up 9.2% year-on-year.

Domestic market cumulative growth accelerated from 1.2% in January-February to 11% in January-June, then moderated to around 6% in July-September, demonstrating high-base deceleration characteristics consistent with the predicted "low early, high mid, stable late" trend.

September retail sales hit new records, exceeding the previous historical high of 2.19 million units in September 2017 by 50,000 units, showing strong growth before year-end policy exits.

Anti-involution trends are driving the market toward "reduced price cuts, moderate promotions," with increasingly stable operations. Based on official price cuts or substantial breakthrough of two-year minimum guidance prices: 23 models saw price reductions in September (versus 36 last year and 11 in 2023), maintaining relative market stability.

September 2025 new energy vehicle promotional intensity remained at 10.2%, up 2.6 percentage points year-on-year and 0.7 percentage points month-on-month. Traditional fuel vehicle promotional intensity reached 23.9%, up 1 percentage point month-on-month and 1.9 percentage points year-on-year.

Domestic brands retailed 1.5 million units in September, up 13% year-on-year and 12.9% month-on-month, capturing 66.9% domestic retail share, up 3.6 percentage points year-on-year. January-September domestic brand retail market share reached 64.8%, up 5.9 percentage points year-on-year.

Mainstream joint venture brands retailed 490,000 units in September, down 6% year-on-year but up 4% month-on-month. German brand retail share fell to 14.3% (down 2.3 percentage points), Japanese brands to 11.6% (down 1.1 percentage points), while American brands gained 0.1 percentage point to 5.8%.

Luxury car retail totaled 240,000 units in September, down 1% year-on-year but up 16% month-on-month, representing 10.8% retail share, down 0.8 percentage points year-on-year.

**Exports:** September passenger car exports (including complete vehicles and CKD) reached 528,000 units, up 20.7% year-on-year and 5.7% month-on-month. January-September cumulative exports totaled 3.999 million units, up 12.5% year-on-year.

New energy vehicles comprised 40.1% of September exports, up 15 percentage points year-on-year. Domestic brand exports reached 463,000 units (up 27% year-on-year, 8% month-on-month), while joint venture and luxury brand exports totaled 65,000 units (down 10.8% year-on-year).

**Production:** September passenger car production reached 2.838 million units, up 17.2% year-on-year and 15.7% month-on-month. January-September cumulative production totaled 20.78 million units, up 13.9% year-on-year, exceeding the historical September peak of 2.44 million units in 2023 by 400,000 units.

**Wholesale:** September national passenger car manufacturer wholesale hit a record monthly high of 2.803 million units, up 12.4% year-on-year and 13.0% month-on-month. January-September cumulative wholesale totaled 20.845 million units, up 13.1% year-on-year.

**New Energy Vehicles:**

September new energy passenger car production reached 1.501 million units (up 22.9% year-on-year, 17.5% month-on-month), wholesale reached 1.500 million units (up 22.4% year-on-year, 15.9% month-on-month), and retail reached 1.296 million units (up 15.5% year-on-year, 16.2% month-on-month).

September new energy wholesale penetration rate reached 53.5%, up 4.4 percentage points year-on-year. Domestic brands achieved 68.3% new energy penetration, luxury cars 40%, while mainstream joint ventures remained at only 6.6%.

Pure electric wholesale sales reached 947,000 units (up 32.4% year-on-year), plug-in hybrids 424,000 units (up 8.4% year-on-year), and extended-range vehicles 129,000 units (up 8.7% year-on-year).

**Top Performing Companies:**

Leading new energy companies in September wholesale included: BYD Company Limited (393,060 units), Geely Auto (165,201 units), Tesla China (90,812 units), Changan (90,072 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (88,781 units), Chery (85,379 units), and Leapmotor (66,657 units).

For new energy exports, top performers included: BYD Company Limited (69,258 units), Chery (31,392 units), Tesla China (19,287 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (16,302 units), and Geely Auto (14,631 units).

The market continues to show strong momentum for domestic brands, particularly in the new energy segment, with increasing international recognition and expanding overseas presence through both complete vehicle exports and CKD operations.