China Passenger Car Association: Retail sales of passenger cars in April increased by 14.5% year-on-year, while retail sales of new energy vehicles surged by 33.9% year-on-year

Despite facing fluctuations in the external environment and inventory pressures, many provinces and cities have introduced and gradually implemented corresponding consumption promotion policies under the impetus of national consumption promotion policies. Coupled with increased support from manufacturers, financial backing, and the full launch of offline activities such as auto shows, the car market performed well in April.

According to data from the Passenger Car Association, the national retail sales of passenger cars reached 1.755 million units in April, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%, but a month-on-month decrease of 9.4%. The cumulative retail sales since the beginning of the year reached 6.872 million units, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%. The Passenger Car Association stated:

In the past few years, the domestic car market retail showed a "low in the front and high in the back" trend. In April this year, retail sales were slightly lower than the highest level of 1.81 million in April 2018, remaining at a historically high level for April.

The Passenger Car Association pointed out that the characteristics of the passenger car market in April 2025 are as follows:

1. The wholesale and production of passenger cars in April reached historical highs for the month;

2. From January to March 2025, domestic retail sales of passenger cars achieved a positive growth of 6%, with an April growth rate of 14.5%, a net increase of 220,000 units year-on-year, achieving an unexpected "good start" of 7.9% from January to April 2025;

3. This year's intuitive price war has been somewhat mild, but hidden discount measures such as annual model upgrades and adjustments to owner rights are emerging one after another. In April, only 14 models saw price reductions, a significant decrease from 41 models in April last year and 19 models in April 2023, reflecting a clear cooling of the price reduction trend. The promotion margin for traditional fuel vehicles in April was 22.2%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, with fuel vehicle promotions remaining stable at around 22% for 10 consecutive months;

4. In April, the wholesale share of self-owned brand passenger cars was 70.3%, and the domestic retail share was 65.5%, both increasing by about 8 percentage points compared to last year;

5. From January to April 2025, the overall inventory of manufacturers remained stable, with an increase of 80,000 units in manufacturer inventory and an increase of 40,000 units in channel inventory, resulting in a total increase of 120,000 units in the overall circulation system, while the overall manufacturer inventory decreased by 410,000 units from January to April last year;

6. The domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles rebounded to 51.5%, showing strong growth of new energy vehicles supported by policies such as scrapping updates, trade-ins, and exemption from purchase tax;

7. From January to April 2025, the export of self-owned fuel passenger cars was 830,000 units, a 13% decline compared to 960,000 units in the same period, while the export of self-owned new energy vehicles was 480,000 units, an increase of 86%, with new energy accounting for 37% of self-owned exports. Although self-owned brands actively reduced inventory in Russia at the beginning of the year, leading to a decline in exports to Russia, the market share of self-owned brands in Russia still maintained a high level of over 55%. Exports in April gradually stabilized, and considering the current state of the Russian automotive industry, exports of Chinese cars to Russia are expected to recover to a certain level;

8. The contribution of trade-in and upgrade continues to strengthen. As of April 24, a total of 2.705 million vehicles were traded in nationwide, with the application volume increasing by 1.2 million from 1.5 million on March 24. Considering the retail scale of approximately 1.72 million private passenger cars in March, about 70% of private car buyers in April benefited from trade-in and upgrade, while first-time private buyers dropped to around 31%. The consumption upgrade through trade-in and upgrade has become the absolute mainstream of car purchasing.

Domestic Retail Share of Independent Brands Exceeds 65%

In April, retail sales of independent brands reached 1.15 million units, a year-on-year increase of 31%, but a month-on-month decrease of 5%. The domestic retail share of independent brands in April was 65.5%, an increase of 8 percentage points year-on-year. From January to April, the market share of independent brands was 64%, an increase of 7.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Independent brands have gained significant increments in the new energy market and export market. Leading traditional car manufacturers have performed excellently in their transformation and upgrading, with brands like BYD, Geely, Chery, and Changan showing significant increases in market share.

In April, mainstream joint venture brands had retail sales of 440,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 3% and a month-on-month decrease of 8%. The retail share of German brands in April was 15.6%, a year-on-year decrease of 3.4 percentage points, while Japanese brands had a retail share of 12.2%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7 percentage points. The retail share of American brands was 4.8%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.1 percentage points.

In April, luxury car retail sales were 170,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 18% and a month-on-month decrease of 32%. The retail share of luxury brands in April was 9.5%, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7 percentage points, while the traditional luxury car market performed relatively well.

Exports: According to data from the Passenger Car Association, in April, passenger car exports (including complete vehicles and CKD) reached 423,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 2% but a month-on-month increase of 7%. From January to April, passenger car manufacturers exported 1.55 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1%. In April, new energy vehicles accounted for 44.6% of total exports, an increase of 14 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Exports of independent brands reached 340,000 units in April, a year-on-year increase of 0.1% but a month-on-month decrease of 1%; joint venture and luxury brand exports were 80,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 10%.

Production: In April, passenger car production reached 2.23 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.2% but a month-on-month decrease of 10.3%. From January to April, passenger car production totaled 8.544 million units, with a cumulative year-on-year growth of 13.7%. In April, passenger car production was 220,000 units higher than the historical peak of 2.04 million units in April 2024, contributing to local economic stability. In April, luxury brand production decreased by 19% year-on-year and 17% month-on-month; joint venture brand production decreased by 4% year-on-year and 20% month-on-month; independent brand production increased by 23% year-on-year but decreased by 6% month-on-month Wholesale: In April, the national wholesale of passenger cars reached 2.19 million units, setting a historical high for the month, with a year-on-year increase of 10.7% and a month-on-month decrease of 9.2%; from January to April, the national wholesale of passenger cars totaled 8.468 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%. Driven by strong retail, the year-on-year growth rate of passenger car wholesale in April was 3.8 percentage points lower than that of retail. In April, the wholesale of domestic car manufacturers was 1.54 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23% and a month-on-month decrease of 3%. The wholesale of mainstream joint venture car manufacturers was 438,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 6% and a month-on-month decrease of 21%. The wholesale of luxury cars was 211,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 20% and a month-on-month decrease of 23%.

In April, the overall wholesale pattern of major passenger car manufacturers continued to change, with signs of gradual rise among small enterprises. Leading car manufacturers such as Geely Auto, Chery Automobile, and Changan Automobile showed strong performance both year-on-year and month-on-month. Compared to March, in April, there were only 3 passenger car manufacturers with sales exceeding 150,000 units (5 in March, 3 in the same period last year), accounting for 36% of the overall market share (47% last month, 32% in the same period last year). The share of passenger car manufacturers with wholesale volumes of 50,000 to 150,000 units accounted for 30% (25% last month, 38% in the same period last year), while those with wholesale volumes of 10,000 to 50,000 units also accounted for 30% (25% last month, 26% in the same period last year).

Inventory: Due to favorable production conditions for manufacturers in April, the wholesale volume was 40,000 units lower than production, while the monthly domestic wholesale was 10,000 units higher than retail. In April, the overall inventory of passenger cars in domestic channels plus manufacturer inventory increased by 50,000 units (an increase of 40,000 units in the same period last year). From January to April this year, the overall industry inventory increased by 120,000 units (a decrease of 410,000 units from January to April last year, a decrease of 150,000 units in 2023, a decrease of 100,000 units in 2022, a decrease of 660,000 units in 2021, and a decrease of 520,000 units in 2020), changing the trend of continuous inventory reduction in the past five years from January to April.

New Energy Wholesale Penetration Rate Rises to 51%

In terms of new energy, the production of new energy passenger cars reached 1.151 million units in April, a year-on-year increase of 40.3% and a month-on-month decrease of 1.5%; from January to April, the cumulative production was 4.078 million units, an increase of 44.5%.

In April, the wholesale sales of new energy passenger cars reached 1.133 million units, a year-on-year increase of 40.2% and a month-on-month increase of 0.3%; from January to April, the cumulative wholesale was 3.981 million units, an increase of 42.1%.

In April, the retail of new energy passenger cars was 905,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 33.9% and a month-on-month decrease of 8.7%; from January to April, the cumulative retail was 3.324 million units, an increase of 35.7%.

In April, manufacturers exported 189,000 new energy passenger cars, a year-on-year increase of 44.2% and a month-on-month increase of 31.6%; from January to April, the cumulative export was 590,000 units, an increase of 26.7%.

1) Wholesale: In April, the wholesale penetration rate of new energy vehicle manufacturers reached 51.7%, an increase of 11 percentage points compared to April 2024. In April, the penetration rate of self-owned brand new energy vehicles was 66%; the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the luxury car segment was 38%; while the penetration rate of new energy vehicles among mainstream joint venture brands was only 7%.

In April, the wholesale sales of pure electric vehicles reached 719,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 49.2% and a month-on-month increase of 1.5%; the sales of narrow-sense plug-in hybrids were 322,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 21.7% but a month-on-month decrease of 3.2%; the wholesale of range-extended vehicles was 92,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 49.3% and a month-on-month increase of 3.8%. In April, the wholesale structure of new energy vehicles was: pure electric 63.5%, narrow-sense plug-in hybrid 28.4%, range-extended 8.1%, compared to April 2024 where pure electric was 60%, narrow-sense plug-in hybrid 33%, and range-extended 7%. For the entire year of 2024, the wholesale structure of new energy vehicles is expected to be: pure electric 69%, narrow-sense plug-in hybrid 23%, and range-extended 8%.

In April, the wholesale of B-class electric vehicles was 202,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 20% but a month-on-month decrease of 7%, accounting for 28% of the pure electric share, a decrease of 7 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The A00+A0 class economy electric vehicle market performed well, with A00 class wholesale sales of 151,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 94% and a month-on-month increase of 10%, accounting for 21% of pure electric, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the same period last year; A0 class wholesale sales were 181,000 units, accounting for 25% of pure electric, an increase of 3 percentage points year-on-year; A-class electric vehicles sold 165,000 units, accounting for 23% of pure electric, with a year-on-year increase of 0.1 percentage points; the growth of economy electric vehicles is sustainable, and only the popularization of economy electric vehicles can truly drive the growth of the auto market.

In April, there were 15 models with wholesale sales exceeding 20,000 units (20 models last month), including BYD Song (84,088 units), Haiou (55,028 units), Hongguang MINI (36,337 units), Geely Xingyuan (36,270 units), Model Y (33,960 units), Xiaomi SU7 (28,585 units), Wuling Bingo (25,294 units), Qin L (25,201 units), Model 3 (24,499 units), Xingyue (24,083 units), Ruichu 8 (23,887 units), Passat (21,882 units), BYD Yuan (20,623 units), BYD Qin (20,619 units), and Xuan Yi (20,233 units). Among them, new energy vehicles ranked among the top 9 in overall passenger vehicle sales, with recent strong domestic performances from fuel vehicles such as Xingyue, Ruichu 8, Passat, Langyi, and Xuan Yi.

2) Retail: In April, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the overall domestic passenger vehicle market was 51.5%, an increase of 7 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In April's domestic retail, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles among self-owned brands was 72.8%; the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the luxury car segment was 23.5%; while the penetration rate of new energy vehicles among mainstream joint venture brands was only 6.8%. From the monthly retail share of new energy vehicles in the domestic market, in April, the retail share of self-owned brand new energy vehicles was 73%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points year-on-year; the share of mainstream joint venture brand new energy vehicles was 3.4%, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points year-on-year; the share of new forces was 19.4%, with brands like XPeng, Leapmotor, and Xiaomi driving a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percentage points in the share of new forces Tesla's market share is 3.2%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5 percentage points.

3) Exports: In April, the export of new energy passenger vehicles reached 189,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 44.2% and a month-on-month increase of 31.6%. This accounted for 44.6% of passenger vehicle exports, an increase of 14 percentage points compared to the same period last year; among them, pure electric vehicles accounted for 65% of new energy exports (81% in the same period last year), with the core focus A00+A0 level pure electric vehicle exports accounting for 33% of new energy exports (33% in the same period last year). With the scale advantages of China's new energy vehicles becoming apparent and the demand for market expansion, more and more new energy brand products made in China are going abroad, with increasing recognition overseas. Among them, plug-in hybrids accounted for 33% of new energy exports (19% in the same period last year). Although recently affected by some external country interferences, the export of domestic plug-in hybrids to developing countries is growing rapidly, with a bright outlook. In April, the outstanding companies in new energy exports were: BYD (72,405 units), Tesla China (29,728 units), Chery Automobile (21,323 units), Volvo Asia-Pacific (7,236 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (6,835 units), Geely Auto (6,750 units), Leapmotor (6,086 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (5,808 units), BeamO (4,880 units), Polestar (3,787 units), XPeng (3,702 units), Great Wall Motors (3,691 units), Dongfeng Motor (3,627 units), Changan Automobile (3,219 units), FAW Hongqi (1,958 units), GAC Aion (1,463 units), Changan Mazda (1,241 units), Seres Hubei (1,231 units), Zhima Da Automobile (1,125 units), Jiangsu Yueda Kia (714 units), JAC Motors (482 units), Brilliance BMW (343 units), Dongfeng Honda (304 units), Jiangling Motors (298 units), FAW Bestune (259 units). Other car companies also have a certain scale of new energy exports.

From the perspective of overseas system construction, some domestic brands have a high proportion of CKD exports, with Haima Automobile's CKD export proportion at 100%, Great Wall Motors at 29%, Jiangling Motors at 21%, and BYD at 5%. The shift from complete vehicle exports to CKD exports and the establishment of overseas localization production systems has been excellently demonstrated by companies such as Haima Automobile, Great Wall Motors, Jiangling Motors, and BYD.

From the monitoring of retail data in overseas markets for domestic brand exports, A0-level electric vehicles once accounted for nearly 50%, being the absolute main force of domestic exports. Domestic small electric vehicles from brands like SAIC performed strongly in Europe initially, but have recently faced targeted tax measures, and may subsequently set minimum sales prices. This reflects that small and micro electric vehicles are the core of global electric vehicle competition. We urgently need to guide the development of electric vehicles with fiscal and tax policies favoring small vehicles and supporting policies such as the C7 driver's license for small and micro electric vehicles to encourage their development, enabling Chinese electric vehicles to sustainably enter the global market. As a counterpart to pure electric zero-carbon models, in the competition of the overseas fuel vehicle market, domestic plug-in hybrid models are increasingly prominent in diverting fuel vehicle demand due to their advantages of low fuel consumption and long range. The new products showcased at this year's Shanghai Auto Show featured a large number of large electric vehicles, while the risks associated with the scarcity of small electric vehicles and fuel vehicles were highlighted Due to the fact that fuel vehicles will still be the main power choice in overseas markets in the medium term, we still need a generally reasonable scale of fuel vehicle products to ensure stable exports of fuel vehicles.

4) Automakers: In April, the overall trend of new energy passenger vehicle companies was relatively strong, with BYD's pure electric and plug-in hybrid dual-drive solidifying the leading position of domestic brands in new energy; narrow plug-in hybrids represented by BYD Auto, Geely Auto, and Chery Auto continued to perform strongly. In terms of product launches, as domestic automakers implement a "multi-line parallel" strategy on the new energy route, the market base continues to expand, with 17 manufacturers achieving monthly wholesale sales of new energy vehicles exceeding 10,000 units (an increase of 3 year-on-year, a decrease of 1 month-on-month), accounting for 90.9% of the total new energy passenger vehicles (92% last month, 86% in the same period last year). Among them, BYD (372,615 units), Geely Auto (125,563 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (75,610 units), Tesla China (58,459 units), Chery Auto (55,023 units), Changan Auto (54,756 units), Leapmotor (41,039 units), XPeng (35,045 units), Li Auto (33,939 units), Great Wall Motors (28,809 units), Xiaomi Auto (28,585 units), Seres (27,048 units), Nio (23,900 units), Dongfeng Motor (23,815 units), GAC Aion (23,408 units), SAIC Passenger Cars (11,325 units), FAW Bestune (10,239 units).

The brands of enterprises that surpassed 20,000 units in domestic passenger car retail are: BYD (268,778 units), Geely Auto (118,813 units), Changan Auto (60,606 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (51,828 units), Chery Auto (36,977 units), Li Auto (33,939 units), XPeng (31,343 units), Tesla China (28,731 units), Xiaomi Auto (28,585 units), Leapmotor (28,317 units), Hongmeng Zhixing (27,555 units), GAC Aion (26,428 units), Great Wall Motors (25,118 units), Nio (23,900 units), Dongfeng Motor (23,872 units), Seres Auto (20,560 units). The new energy performance of mainstream domestic automakers is increasingly strong, with BYD Auto, Geely Auto, Changan Auto, and SAIC-GM-Wuling performing well in domestic new energy retail.

5) New Forces: In April, the retail share of new forces was 19.4%, an increase of 3.6 percentage points year-on-year. The trend of new forces is differentiated, with XPeng, Xiaomi Auto, and Leapmotor contributing 5.2 percentage points of share increase. The independent new energy brands of traditional domestic automakers, as the second generation of innovation, performed strongly, with a share of 12.6%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. The self-innovated new energy brands of large domestic groups such as Deep Blue Auto, Avita Auto, Equation Leopard, ZEEKR, and Voyah performed excellently.

6) Regular Hybrids: In April, wholesale of regular hybrid passenger vehicles was 69,400 units, a year-on-year increase of 6%, but a month-on-month decrease of 19%. Among them, FAW Toyota (32,221 units), GAC Toyota (24,306 units), Changan Ford (3,170 units), Dongfeng Honda (2,835 units), Dongfeng Motor (2,110 units), GAC Trumpchi (1,955 units), GAC Honda (1,820 units), Geely Auto (652 units) Dongfeng Nissan (173 vehicles). The sales of hybrid self-owned brands are gradually increasing.

May Outlook

The Passenger Car Association pointed out that there are 19 working days in May 2025, which is 2 days less than May of last year, especially with the Dragon Boat Festival on May 31, which is not conducive to stable growth in the automotive market. With the implementation of the scrapping and renewal policy in 2024, the market in May 2024 is expected to gradually recover, and the base for this May will be relatively high.

Driven by national consumption promotion and corresponding consumption promotion policies in many provinces and cities, offline activities at the May auto show will continue to activate the market atmosphere and accelerate the increase in popularity. Against the backdrop of an increasingly rich brand product matrix, the new car launches at this Shanghai Auto Show are moderate, with many self-owned new force brands showcasing mid-to-high-end models, while joint venture models are the first to launch new energy vehicles at surprise prices. It is expected that the growth of the car market in May will be relatively stable.

Due to drastic changes in the external environment and the emergence of unexpected pressures from widespread tariff increases, consumer sentiment has also been affected to some extent. However, this impact may gradually manifest in the market performance in the following months, and the country has long had a policy orientation to promote domestic demand. Therefore, the trend of our development relying on both "domestic demand and external demand" is becoming increasingly evident, and the effect of stabilizing domestic demand in the passenger car market will continue to be reflected. The expansion of export business in countries and regions with relatively loose overseas automotive market environments is also expected to become a new growth momentum for car companies.

In April, China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 49.0%, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous month. However, the Caixin China Manufacturing PMI for April recorded 50.4, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, still within the expansion range. The changes in the external economic and trade environment still have uncertainties affecting the car market.

This year's "May Day" holiday saw an increase in the popularity of self-driving tours, with personalized, low-cost travel options such as private car self-driving and rental car self-driving becoming the choice for more people. The combination of electric vehicles with assisted driving brings more driving pleasure, the independent space experience of smart cockpits is enjoyable, and the gradually maturing and confident energy replenishment habits of new energy users, along with the verification of the improvement of energy replenishment network infrastructure during the staggered long holiday, are all conducive to enhancing the consumption enthusiasm for new energy vehicles and alleviating the transformation concerns of conventional fuel vehicle consumers.

The proportion of Chinese automotive exports to the United States is minimal, especially as self-owned brands are not sold in the U.S., so self-owned brand vehicles produced in China will not be affected by U.S. tariff increases. Currently, China's self-owned sales share in the Russian market remains high at 55%, and the pressure from reduced exports is not significant. However, the phenomenon of too few new fuel vehicles, few small cars, and a concentration of large electric vehicles at this Shanghai Auto Show is not conducive to the sustainable development strategy of the Chinese automotive industry.

This article is excerpted from: "【Monthly Analysis】April 2025 National Passenger Car Market Analysis," Author: Passenger Car Association