China’s passenger car sales dropped sharply in February as demand weakened amid the phaseout of some trade-in subsidies, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
About 950,000 passenger vehicles were sold domestically during the month, down from nearly 1.4M in January, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year declines.
Total passenger car sales, including exports, fell 15.4% from a year earlier, though overseas shipments surged 58% to 586,000 units.
Automakers are grappling with softer demand as some local governments scale back incentives designed to encourage electric vehicle purchases. Consumer spending has also been pressured by a slowing economy and a prolonged property slump, while the Lunar New Year holiday in February likely further weighed on sales.
Sales at BYD (BYDDF) (BYDDY), which overtook Tesla (TSLA) in 2025 as the world’s largest EV maker, fell 41% year over year to 190,190 vehicles in February. XPeng (XPEV) reported a decline of 49.9% Y/Y in February deliveries, while Geely Automobile (GELYF) (GELHY) reported a 1% increase to 206,160 vehicles.
In contrast, Chinese EV maker NIO (NIO) delivered 20,797 vehicles in February, representing an increase of 57.6% year-over-year.
Source: Press Release