China’s total vehicle sales fell 2.1% year-on-year in May 2026, following a 2.5% decline in April, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). New energy vehicle (NEV) sales rose 14.4% year-on-year to 1.496 million units in May, up from 9.7% growth in April, with NEVs accounting for 56.9% of all vehicle sales.
Domestic sales, however, slumped 20.4% year-on-year in May. By contrast, vehicle exports surged 68.7%, emerging as a crucial growth engine for an industry that is increasingly dependent on overseas markets to offset domestic weakness.
“Stabilizing domestic demand this year should be regarded as a very important task for the automotive industry,” said Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of CAAM, as reported by Reuters.
In the previous year, China’s total vehicle sales rose 9.4% year-on-year to a record 34.4 million units, accelerating from a 4.5% increase in 2024, while NEV sales jumped 28.2%.
