For the first time, China's automobile production and sales both exceeded 20 million units in the first eight months. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers: The domestic sales of new energy vehicles will account for 50% in 2025.

On September 11th, the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that from January to August 2025, China's automobile production and sales exceeded 20 million vehicles for the first time, reaching 21.051 million and 21.128 million vehicles respectively, with year-on-year increases of 12.7% and 12.6% respectively. Among them, in August, China's automobile production and sales reached 2.815 million and 2.857 million vehicles respectively, with year-on-year increases of 13% and 16.4% respectively.

Chen Shihua, the deputy secretary-general of the CAAM, said, "The 'two new' policies have continued to take effect. Policies such as fiscal interest subsidies for personal consumer loans have been introduced in a timely manner. Enterprises are enthusiastic about launching new models, and the industry's comprehensive rectification of the 'involution' has continued to show results. The overall operation of the automobile industry has been stable."

Source: CAAM

Production and sales of fuel - powered vehicles have increased for three consecutive months

In August, the domestic sales of automobiles in China reached 2.245 million vehicles, a month - on - month increase of 11.3% and a year - on - year increase of 15.6%. Among them, the domestic sales of fuel - powered vehicles reached 1.074 million vehicles, a month - on - month increase of 9.5% and a year - on - year increase of 12.9%, maintaining growth for three consecutive months. "This is related to the strategic adjustments of traditional automobile enterprises represented by joint - venture companies," Chen Shihua explained.

From January to August, the domestic sales of automobiles in China were 16.836 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 12.3%. Among them, the domestic sales of fuel - powered vehicles were 8.747 million vehicles, a year - on - year decrease of 0.3%.

In August, the passenger car market in China performed strongly. Production and sales reached 2.5 million and 2.54 million vehicles respectively, with year - on - year increases of 12.5% and 16.5% respectively. "In August, the policy of trading in old cars for new ones continued to show results. Some regions that had suspended the implementation of subsidies resumed them. Policies such as consumer loan support stabilized consumer confidence. Enterprises continued to launch new models, which helped the passenger car market operate stably and achieved year - on - year sales growth," Chen Shihua said.

From January to August, China's passenger car production and sales reached 18.338 million and 18.384 million vehicles respectively, with year - on - year increases of 13.6% and 13.8% respectively. Among them, in August, China's passenger car production and sales reached 2.5 million and 2.54 million vehicles respectively, with month - on - month increases of over 9% and year - on - year increases of 12.5% and 16.5% respectively.

Photo source: CAAM

The sales proportion of Chinese - brand passenger cars continued to remain at a high level. According to CAAM data, in August, Chinese - brand passenger cars sold a total of 1.766 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 21%, accounting for 69.5% of the total passenger car sales, an increase of 2.6 percentage points compared with the same period last year. Among the major foreign brands, compared with the previous month, the sales of French brands decreased slightly, while the sales of the other four major brands increased to varying degrees; compared with the same period last year, the sales of French brands decreased by double - digits, while the sales of the other four major brands increased to varying degrees.

From January to August, the sales of Chinese - brand passenger cars were 12.642 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 23.8%, and the sales share was 68.8%, an increase of 5.6 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

In August, the commercial vehicle market in China recovered significantly, with both year - on - year and month - on - month increases in production and sales, which was consistent with the development trend of macro - economic indicators. According to CAAM data, in that month, the production and sales of commercial vehicles reached 315,000 and 316,000 vehicles respectively, with month - on - month increases of 5.9% and 3.4% respectively, and year - on - year increases of 16.4% and 16.3% respectively. Among the main types of commercial vehicles, compared with the previous month, the production and sales of both buses and trucks increased slightly; compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of both buses and trucks increased by double - digits.

From January to August, China's commercial vehicle production and sales reached 2.713 million and 2.744 million vehicles respectively, with year - on - year increases of 7.1% and 5.2% respectively. Among the main types of commercial vehicles, compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of both buses and trucks increased to varying degrees.

The domestic sales of new energy vehicles maintain a high proportion of over 50%

New energy vehicles continued to lead the overall market. In August, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 1.391 million and 1.395 million vehicles respectively, with year - on - year increases of 27.4% and 26.8% respectively. The sales of new energy vehicles accounted for 48.8% of the total sales of new vehicles.

Among the main categories of new energy vehicles, the growth rate of plug - in hybrid electric vehicles (hereinafter referred to as PHEVs) slowed down. In August, the sales of pure electric vehicles were 908,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 40.5%; the sales of PHEVs were 487,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 7.5%.

In August, the domestic sales of new energy vehicles were 1.171 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 18.3%. The proportion of domestic sales of new energy vehicles in the domestic sales of all vehicles was 52.2%. This was the second consecutive month that the proportion of domestic sales of new energy vehicles returned to a high level of over 50% since it fell below 50% in December last year.

Photo source: CAAM

From January to August, the cumulative production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 9.625 million and 9.62 million vehicles respectively, with year - on - year increases of 37.3% and 36.7% respectively. The sales of new energy vehicles accounted for 45.5% of the total sales of new vehicles. Among them, the domestic sales of new energy vehicles were 8.088 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 30.1%. The proportion of domestic sales of new energy vehicles in the overall domestic vehicle sales was 48%.

Chen Shihua said that judging from the trend of the proportion of domestic sales of new energy vehicles in the domestic sales of all vehicles in the previous months, it showed a gradual upward trend and would continue to rise in the future. "It is expected that this figure will reach 50% for the whole year of 2025," Chen Shihua said.

According to CAAM data, from January to August, the total sales of the top 15 groups in terms of new energy vehicle sales reached 9.146 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 39%, accounting for 95.1% of the total sales of new energy vehicles, an increase of 1.5 percentage points compared with the same period last year. Among them, the market concentration of the top three companies, BYD, Geely, and SAIC, reached 51.2%.

In terms of exports, new energy vehicles also performed outstandingly. From January to August, China exported 4.292 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 13.7%. Among them, 1.532 million new energy vehicles were exported, a year - on - year increase of 87.3%.

Photo source: CAAM

Specifically, the acceptance of PHEVs in the overseas market has rapidly increased, becoming a new highlight of exports. According to CAAM data, from January to August, 556,000 PHEVs were exported, a year - on - year increase of 2.2 times; 976,000 pure - electric vehicles were exported, a year - on - year increase of 52%. Among them, in August, 81,000 PHEVs were exported, a year - on - year increase of 2.7 times; 143,000 pure - electric vehicles were exported, a year - on - year increase of 63.4%.

From January to August, among the top ten enterprises in terms of vehicle exports, Chery exported 795,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 10.5%, accounting for 18.5% of the total exports. Compared with the same period last year, BYD had the most significant export growth, exporting 634,000 vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 1.3 times.

This article is from the WeChat official account "NBD Auto". Author: Li Xing. Republished by 36Kr with permission.