The boom of "national daily commuter vehicles" is ebbing, and three-wheeled mini vehicles are also vying for market share. Priced at only tens of thousands of yuan, experts note that the profit per unit is less than 1,000 yuan, and the core opportunities for this sector lie in overseas markets.
Walk into a small car 4S dealership, and a green all-electric model is placed at the most prominent position in the exhibition hall. There are not many people coming to view the cars, and the sales staff sit by the counter, occasionally glancing at the entrance.
"At this time last year, our dealership could sell more than 200 units of this single model per month," the aforementioned 4S dealership salesperson pointed to the vehicle in the center of the exhibition hall and told the reporter from National Business Daily, "Now this model can sell at most over 90 units a month. Customers who enter the store first walk around the car for a full look, then ask if there are larger models available."
Image source: SAIC-GM-Wuling official website
This is not an isolated experience for a dealership that exclusively sells A00-segment vehicles. On August 18, the latest data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows that in the first 7 months of this year, the sales volume of the A00-segment vehicle market dropped by 61.3% year-on-year.
From the cluster of "blockbuster hits" to collective "mediocrity", behind the halved sales of the A00-segment vehicle market is not the stall of individual brands, but the systematic exit of the low-end commuter vehicle category.
Sales of multiple A00-segment models drop by over 60%
In the "battle" of the A00-segment vehicles, the Hongguang MINIEV is an unavoidable presence. This "national commuter vehicle" that once set a single-month sales record of 60,000 units, now sees its monthly sales hovering around 10,000 units for many months. Public data shows that in July this year, the sales volume of Hongguang MINIEV was 10,500 units, down 61% year-on-year.
Other former "star models" also cannot escape the downward trend. In July this year, the sales volume of Changan Lumin was 7,596 units, down 42% year-on-year; the sales volume of Bestune Pony was 4,251 units, down 61% year-on-year; the sales volume of Geely Panda was 3,444 units, down 66% year-on-year; monthly sales of models such as Chery QQ Ice Cream have fallen below 1,000 units.
"The past four years were the best time for our store's business. Cars sent from the manufacturer were never worried about being unsold, and in many cases, cars were booked before they even arrived at the exhibition hall," a dealer who has been selling microcars full-time for more than six years told the reporter.
His perception matches the market data. In 2022, the annual retail sales of A00-segment pure electric vehicles reached 1.08 million units, which was at the peak of the category. But then the market began to fluctuate: the cumulative retail sales of A00-segment pure electric vehicles in 2023 dropped to 950,000 units; it rebounded to 1.248 million units in 2024; the annual sales volume of A00-segment pure electric vehicles in 2025 was about 1.036 million units.
This year, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. "Now even on holidays, there are only a dozen groups of users coming to the store to view cars, and the transaction volume is even smaller," the aforementioned full-time microcar dealer believes that the biggest variable comes from policy adjustments.
Since January 1, 2026, the full exemption of new energy vehicle purchase tax has been changed to a 5% half-rate collection. For micro electric vehicles priced at the 40,000-yuan level, the new vehicle purchase tax is about 2,000 yuan, accounting for more than 5% of the vehicle price, far exceeding the proportion of purchase tax in the vehicle price for mid-to-high-end models, directly raising the entry threshold. At the same time, the trade-in subsidy rules also link the subsidy amount to the vehicle price, so mid-to-high-end models get more subsidies. Micro electric vehicles that originally relied on subsidies to drive sales have completely lost policy support, and their demand has been suppressed.
"For price-sensitive users with a budget stuck between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan, a few thousand yuan is enough to change their purchase decision," the aforementioned full-time microcar dealer said.
Two-way "encirclement and suppression" from both higher and lower segments
The number of customers entering the store has decreased sharply at a speed visible to the naked eye, and dealers who exclusively sell microcars can no longer sit still. A Wuling dealer in Guangdong region said: "The maximum discount for Hongguang MINIEV is 8,000 yuan, and the minimum starting price is 33,800 yuan."
A Bestune car dealer in Henan region also said: "Some configurations of Bestune Pony can be reduced by up to 12,000 yuan, and the minimum starting price after discount is 26,900 yuan."
While A00-segment pure electric vehicles are still competing on price, A0-segment pure electric models are also constantly lowering their price floor, and the price difference between some A0-segment models and A00-segment models has narrowed to several thousand yuan to 10,000 yuan.
A Geely brand dealer in Henan region said: "At present, the maximum discount for Xingyuan is 9,000 yuan, and the minimum starting price is 59,800 yuan."
Taking the fifth-generation Hongguang MINIEV 301km Premium Edition as an example, the current price of this car is 51,800 yuan. On this basis, you only need to pay an extra 8,000 yuan to buy the 2026 Geely Xingyuan 310km Aspiration Edition.
Image source: Geely Galaxy official website
Data from CPCA shows that in the first 7 months of this year, the total sales volume of the A0-segment sedan and SUV market was 1.147 million units, of which the sales volume of the A0-segment sedan market was 597,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 20.8%. In contrast, the sales volume of the A00-segment vehicle market was 289,000 units, down 61.3% year-on-year.
The ebb and flow reflects a fundamental change in consumption logic. Zhu Jiangming, Chairman of Leapmotor, said bluntly: "Current A0-segment car users have basically replaced the original A00-segment car users." This substitution is not only reflected in the willingness to pay higher prices for smaller cars with more space, but also in the willingness to pay a technology premium for higher range and intelligent configurations. For example, among the orders for Leapmotor A10, the proportion of the LiDAR version exceeds 50%, and 70% of users choose the high-range version with a range of 500 kilometers and above.
Apart from competition from A0-segment vehicles, another squeeze on A00-segment vehicles comes from electric tricycles that are priced lower than them. In urban short-distance travel scenarios, compliant electric tricycles and high-end two-wheel electric vehicles are diverting users who originally belonged to microcars.
"More and more customers coming to our store this year are switching from four-wheeled vehicles, and most customers have only two reasons: low price and license-plate eligibility," a store manager of an electric vehicle store told the reporter, "A closed three-wheeled covered vehicle, with high-end configuration, only costs a little over 10,000 yuan. And today's tricycles are different from before, they are equipped with functions such as reversing intelligent braking, automatic parking, and steering warning, and can travel hundreds of kilometers on a full charge."
According to his observation, the number of customers coming in and out of the surrounding electric vehicle stores is even larger than that of the car 4S dealerships on another street.
Exit or transformation?
The A00-segment vehicle market continues to shrink, and some car companies have taken the initiative to "retreat".
"The Lumin model is priced below 50,000 yuan with extremely narrow profit margins, which does not conform to the group's high-quality development orientation. We have taken the initiative to stop this product line, and no longer one-sidedly pursue unprofitable scale growth," Tan Benhong, Deputy Party Secretary of China Changan Automobile Group, told the reporter. Reducing the sales volume of Lumin with weak profitability is conducive to increasing the overall average price and profit margin of the new energy sector.
Image source: Changan Qiyuan official website
According to Cui Dongshu, head of the China Automobile Dealers Association CPCA: "On the cost side, the price increases of lithium carbonate and chips have severely compressed the meager profits of microcars, and the profit per A00-segment vehicle is less than 1,000 yuan."
Does this mean that A00-segment vehicles will gradually disappear? In response, Cui Dongshu said: "There is still demand in the microcar segment market."
Going global has become a common choice for many A00-segment vehicles at present. "The first batch of A10 vehicles has now arrived in Europe, and the pre-sale orders are performing very well. Because the size and configuration of the A10 meet the needs of overseas markets, especially European families," Cao Li, Vice President of Leapmotor, said.
In Cui Dongshu's view: "A00-segment vehicles have huge market space overseas. China urgently needs policy support to encourage the popularization of microcars. Car companies should strive to achieve extremely low prices. High-quality refinement is not contradictory to low prices. They should deeply cultivate scenarios such as single-person commuting and shared mobility, make efforts in overseas markets, match the small car product matrix, and take a small but refined differentiated path to seek survival."
(Disclaimer: The content and data of the article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors who operate accordingly shall bear their own risks.)
This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Meijing Toutiao", Author: Duan Siyao, Editors: Duan Lian, Pei Jianru, Du Hengfeng, Proofreader: Liang Luyue, Published with authorization from 36Kr.