China new energy vehicle retail sales are expected to reach roughly 1.07 million units in October, down 16.5 per cent year-on-year, according to a report released on Friday by the China Passenger Car Association. The decline extends a prolonged cooling period in the automotive market.
Total passenger car retail volume across the country is projected to drop 28.9 per cent to 1.6 million units over the same period, deepening an annual slide from September’s 28.0 per cent fall. While new energy vehicle retail penetration remains high at an estimated 66.9 per cent, market share dipped by 0.1 percentage points from the record 67.0 per cent achieved in September.
CPCA analysts noted that traditional seasonal sales boosts have weakened significantly, leaving overall demand sluggish despite high adoption rates for electric and hybrid models.
Showroom traffic rose briefly during the National Day holiday in early October before dropping sharply across major dealership networks. Accumulated holiday orders lifted average daily retail sales to 58,000 units during the second week of the month, but daily volume slumped to 47,000 units by the third week.
The association projected average daily sales to stabilize around 49,000 units in the fourth week as third-quarter vehicle launches clear delivery backlogs. A final month-end push is expected to lift daily transactions to 79,000 units in the fifth week.
Between October 1 and October 18, actual passenger NEV retail sales reached 520,000 units, reflecting a 13 per cent drop compared to the same period in 2025 and a 2 per cent decline from September.
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