The sales figures for March have been released for 14 listed automakers.

In March, the domestic automobile market gradually emerged from the off - season impact of holidays, showing a significant month - on - month rebound. The industry as a whole is in a transitional stage of policy adjustment adaptation and market recovery.

On April 9th, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released data showing that in March, the retail sales of the national passenger car market reached 1.648 million units, a year - on - year decrease of 15.0% and a month - on - month increase of 59.4%. Since the beginning of this year, the cumulative retail sales have been 4.226 million units, a year - on - year decrease of 17.4%. The new energy passenger car market also showed a high month - on - month growth trend. In March, the retail sales were 848,000 units, a year - on - year decrease of 14.4% and a month - on - month increase of 82.6%. From January to March, the cumulative retail sales were 1.908 million units, a year - on - year decrease of 21.1%.

Meanwhile, in March, the export of passenger cars (including complete vehicles and CKD) reached 695,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 74.3% and a month - on - month increase of 25.2%. New energy vehicles accounted for 50.2% of the total export volume in March, an increase of 14 percentage points compared with the same period.

"Due to the complex influence of market factors and fiscal and tax policy adjustments, the annual sales volume in recent years has shown a more obvious characteristic of 'low at the beginning and high at the end'. The overall performance of the domestic and foreign markets of passenger cars in the first quarter of 2026 was slightly better than expected," said Cui Dongshu, the secretary - general of the CPCA.

Statistics of the sales data of 14 A/H - share listed automobile enterprises in March by a reporter from Cailian Press showed that 9 enterprises achieved year - on - year growth, accounting for more than 60%, and all 14 enterprises achieved month - on - month growth. Positive signals of market recovery continued to be released.

Among the 14 listed automobile enterprises, SAIC Motor continued to lead. Its sales volume in March was 376,000 units, achieving the "triple - crown of monthly sales" since the beginning of this year. From January to March, the cumulative sales volume was 973,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 2.95%. It became the only automobile enterprise group in the industry to reach a million - level sales volume in the first quarter.

Independent brands have become the core pillar for the overall upward development of SAIC Motor. From January to March this year, the sales volume of SAIC's independent brands reached 657,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 9.3%, accounting for 67.6% of the group's sales volume, an increase of nearly 4 percentage points compared with the same period last year. From January to March, SAIC's new energy vehicles had a cumulative sales volume of 270,000 units. Among them, the high - end brand IM Motors saw a year - on - year increase of 96.9%. The pre - orders of its flagship SUV, IM LS8, exceeded 10,000 within 45 minutes after the pre - sale. SAIC also continued to make efforts in the overseas market. From January to March, the cumulative sales volume overseas was 325,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 48.3%.

Following closely behind, BYD's monthly sales volume returned to the range of 300,000 units in March, of which the export volume reached 120,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 65%. Affected by the off - season at the beginning of the year and the policy withdrawal, BYD's sales volume was under pressure year - on - year from January to February. The rebound in March marked that it was gradually getting out of the short - term adjustment period.

BYD launched time - limited discounts for models such as Yuan UP and Qin PLUS DM - i in March, and further increased the discount intensity in April. Three models under the Dynasty series, namely the 2026 Qin L DM - i, Han L DM, and Tang L DM, not only launched time - limited discounts but also offered financial policies such as low - interest loans.

Changan Automobile, which quickly overtook others in March, had a sales volume of 271,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 1.05%. Among them, the new energy vehicle sales volume was about 90,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 3.18%, and the overseas sales volume was 104,000 units. The single - month overseas sales volume exceeded 100,000 units, setting a new historical high. Following closely behind, Geely Automobile and Chery Automobile had sales volumes of 233,000 units and 228,000 units respectively in March, jointly promoting the continuous high occupancy rate of independent brands.

Judging from the overall performance of independent brands, in March, the retail sales of independent brands were 1.02 million units, a year - on - year decrease of 16% and a month - on - month increase of 61%. The domestic retail share in that month was 61.8%, a year - on - year decrease of 0.8 percentage points. Although the retail share declined slightly, the performance of independent brands in the new energy market and the export market was generally stable. According to CPCA data, the independent new energy brands hatched by traditional independent automobile enterprises performed outstandingly, with a market share of 19.6%, a year - on - year increase of 6 percentage points. Brands such as Deepal, YiPAI Technology, ZEEKR, ARCFOX, and VOYAH have become the core forces driving the new energy transformation of independent brands.

According to CPCA data, the retail share of new - force brands reached 21.5% in March, a year - on - year increase of 4.4 percentage points. Among the new - force models, the proportion of pure - electric vehicle sales reached 78.5%, a significant increase from 65.8% in the same period. Moreover, the proportion of pure - electric vehicle sales in the 100,000 - 150,000 - yuan price range increased significantly, showing that the competitiveness of new - force brands in the mid - end pure - electric market continued to increase.

Among the new - force brands, Leapmotor's monthly sales volume returned to the range of 50,000 units. Li Auto, NIO, and XPeng delivered 41,000 units, 35,000 units, and 27,000 units respectively, all achieving varying degrees of growth compared with the previous month.

Although the automobile market showed a month - on - month recovery trend in March, the industry still faced some challenges. The promotion of fuel - powered vehicles decreased by 0.8 percentage points month - on - month in March, and the month - on - month increase in the promotion of new energy vehicles was the same as that in the same period last year. In addition, there was no large - scale price - cut wave in the market, and consumers' wait - and - see attitude was still obvious.

Cui Dongshu believes that the purchasing power and consumption enthusiasm of consumers have fluctuated to a certain extent, and the automobile consumption market is facing great pressure. Long - term support measures are urgently needed to stabilize market growth, especially focusing on the field of automobile popularization to effectively release consumption potential. "We judge that the automobile market will enter a stage of gradual and slow improvement in the second quarter, but the recovery process will be relatively slow. It is expected that the market will gradually enter a stable state in the third quarter, and the entire automobile market is expected to achieve overall stability and positive growth in the second half of the year," Cui Dongshu predicted.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Cailian Press". Author: Xu Hao. Republished by 36Kr with permission.