China passenger vehicle retail market slumps 24% in September

An YTD slump in the passenger vehicle market in China extended last month, with retail sales for September totaling roughly 1.7M, a 24% decline from a year ago, according to preliminary data released by the China Passenger Car Association on Saturday.

While YTD retail sales fell 21% YoY to ~13.4M, the broader passenger vehicle market expanded from August, with passenger vehicle retail sales climbing ~10% from a month ago, driven by new energy vehicles.

Retail sales of passenger NEVs stood at ~1.1M in September, down ~12% YoY but accounting for ~67% of total passenger vehicle retail sales for the month.

YTD retail NEV sales totaled ~7.8M, down 12% YoY and signaling a weak domestic market, while wholesale passenger NEV sales reached ~11.4M YTD, up 10% from a year ago, as CPCA said higher oil prices remained elevated longer than expected, fueling exports.

The local markets also faced tough comps from a year earlier when sales climbed thanks to a rush to buy new vehicles before some Chinese regions reined in trade-in subsidies.

BYD (BYDDF) (BYDDY), Geely Auto (GELYF), Chery (CRYAF) (CRAUY), Leapmotor (ZJLMF), and Tesla (TSLA) were among the top 10 manufacturers in the passenger NEV wholesale market last month.

Companies including XPeng (XPEV) (XPNGF), Li Auto (LI), and Nio (NIO) were ranked outside the top ten.

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