China’s total vehicle sales declined by 5.1% year-on-year in August 2026, deepening from a 0.3% drop in July, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). In contrast, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) climbed 17.8% from a year earlier in August.
Over the first eight months of the year, overall vehicle sales fell 3.8% compared with the same period a year ago, while NEV sales rose 10.7%. In the previous year, China’s vehicle sales grew 9.4% year-on-year to a record 34.4 million units, accelerating from a 4.5% increase in 2024. NEV sales in that year surged by 28.2%.
