October 12, 2026
1.618 million passenger cars were sold at retail in China in September, down 28% from September 2025 and up 5% from August, according to the China Passenger Car Association’s final September count.
| CPCA series, passenger cars | September 2026 | vs Sep 2025 | Jan-Sep 2026 | vs Jan-Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail, all powertrains | 1.618 million | -28.0% | 13.33 million | -21.7% |
| Retail, NEVs | 1.084 million | -16.7% | 7.758 million | -12.8% |
| Wholesale, NEVs | 1.666 million | +11.3% | not given | not given |
| Exports, all powertrains | 917,000 | +73.7% | not given | not given |
Source: CPCA final figures, October 12, 2026. Wholesale is factory shipments, exports included; retail is sales to buyers in China.
The CPCA blamed four things. The Mid-Autumn Festival came early this year, in the last week of September, and sales slowed sharply that week. Last September’s base was inflated by a rush to buy before subsidies ran out in some provinces. High oil prices kept buyers away from gasoline cars. And a spike in memory-chip prices, which the association puts down to AI demand, held back the launch of new NEV models.
Gasoline cars took the worst of it, with retail down 43% from September 2025. That pushed NEVs to 67.0% of the month’s retail, a record in the CPCA’s count and 9.1 points higher than a year earlier. Among Chinese brands the NEV share was 84.5%; among the mainstream joint-venture brands it was 15.9%.
36% of the 2.549 million passenger cars that makers in China shipped in September went abroad, up from 19% a year earlier, so total wholesale fell only 8.9%. NEV exports more than doubled to 558,000. That is why NEV wholesale, which counts exports, rose 11.3% in a month when NEV retail at home fell. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, which counts factory sales of all vehicle types, put September NEV sales at 1.823 million, up 13.6%. Its September report said the home market has shown no real improvement so far.
455,000 passenger cars left BYD at wholesale in September, up 15.8%, while its retail sales in China fell 28.9% to about 247,000, in the CPCA’s maker rankings. Leapmotor was the only one of the ten largest retailers to sell more at home than a year earlier, up 30.8% to about 78,000.
Tesla China
95,366 cars left Tesla China’s Shanghai plant at wholesale in September, up 5% and its highest month of 2026, according to CnEVPost’s Tesla report on the CPCA’s figures. Exports rose 58% to 30,529, and domestic retail fell 9% to 64,837.
From preliminary to final
84,000 sales came off the total between the CPCA’s October 10 preliminary (1.702 million, down 24%) and the final count, and NEV retail lost 57,000. August’s final NEV figure also landed 64,000 under its preliminary, as the September 15 piece on the revision reported. Earlier years are on the China auto sales hub.
FAQ
How many cars were sold in China in September 2026?
1.618 million passenger cars at retail, down 28% from September 2025, on the CPCA’s final count.
Did China’s EV sales fall in September 2026?
Yes at retail: new energy vehicle retail fell 16.7% to 1.084 million. NEV wholesale, which includes exports, rose 11.3% to 1.666 million.
What share of China’s car sales were NEVs in September 2026?
A record 67.0% of passenger car retail in the CPCA’s count, up 9.1 points from September 2025.
