BYD extended its commanding lead in China's passenger car market in September, wholesaling 455,113 vehicles to top the monthly sales ranking with a 17.9% market share, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) cited by tech news outlet Kuaikeji. The figure was 165,000 units ahead of second-placed Geely, which sold 290,100 vehicles, while Chery took third with 281,738 units.
Domestic brands occupied seven of the top ten slots in the wholesale ranking. Changan ranked fourth with 127,993 units, SAIC Motor's passenger car division was fifth with 107,303 units, GWM took seventh with 99,914 units, and Leapmotor placed eighth with 96,167 units. Among the movers, Leapmotor surged 44.3% year on year, while Changan and GWM fell 25.4% and 17.2% respectively.
Foreign and joint-venture brands held only three positions in the top ten. SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 103,477 units, Tesla China delivered 95,366 units, and FAW-Volkswagen recorded 77,728 units, a 45.5% drop from a year earlier. The CPCA data shows the broader market contracted sharply: September retail sales of passenger cars fell 28.0% year on year to 1.618 million units, though they rose 5.0% from August, undercutting the traditional "Golden September" sales season.
New-energy penetration hits record 67%
New-energy vehicles, including BEVs (battery-electric), PHEVs (plug-in hybrids) and EREVs (range-extenders), reached a record 67.0% retail penetration in September, the CPCA noted. That means roughly two of every three cars sold in China were electrified, while pure petrol car retail sales nearly halved. The association described the market as one where new-energy vehicles show resilient growth while fuel cars shrink at an accelerating pace.
Exports have overtaken domestic demand as the core growth engine, the CPCA said. Chery led September exports with 203,765 vehicles. BYD followed with 174,277 units, up 151.6% year on year, while Geely exported 105,914 units, a 160.5% gain. Leapmotor's exports jumped 298.6% compared with the same month last year.
Nine-month cumulative ranking
For the January-to-September period, BYD led cumulative wholesale sales with 3.076 million vehicles, followed by Geely with 2.224 million and Chery with 2.124 million. SAIC's passenger car division grew 45.5% year on year, Leapmotor rose 66.1%, and FAW-Volkswagen fell 35.3% over the nine-month span.
The results underscore how quickly the competitive landscape has shifted in China's auto market. With only three foreign or joint-venture brands left in the monthly top ten, and FAW-Volkswagen's sales nearly halved, the CPCA data suggests joint-venture automakers have fallen well behind their domestic rivals in the transition to electrified vehicles.
