In a show of market resilience, China’s gentle car (LV) market defied typical seasonal sluggishness to submit a powerful efficiency in September 2025. Complete gross sales reached roughly 2.5 million items, reflecting an 11% YoY enhance. The enlargement was largely fueled by the PV (passenger car – automotive) section, which grew by 10% YoY to 2.3 million items.
Complementing this was a standout 23% YoY surge in LCV gross sales, which amounted to 216k items. On a YTD foundation, the market maintained its momentum with a 12% enlargement in volumes in January-September in comparison with the identical interval in 2024. The LCV section delivered a powerful efficiency in September, notably inside the Gentle Truck class. Whereas the general Gentle Truck market posted a 2.5% YoY enhance, a central pillar of this enlargement has been the fast electrification of the Business Automobile sector. The seasonally adjusted annualized promoting charge (SAAR) for September was 28.7 million items, remaining at a traditionally excessive stage and reinforcing the sample of a weak begin, sturdy center, and steady finish for the yr.
By way of manufacturing, China’s LV construct reached 3.2 million items in September, marking a stable YoY enhance of 15.1%. PVs, which accounted for 90% of whole output, rose by 14.7% YoY to 2.9 million items, underscoring sturdy shopper demand and market resilience. CV manufacturing additionally carried out nicely, climbing by 19.0% YoY to 291k items. Home Chinese language OEMs produced 2.3 million items—a notable 17.7% YoY uptick—whereas three way partnership OEMs additionally posted features of 9.0%. In January-September as a complete, the general LV market expanded by 12.5% relative to the identical interval within the earlier yr.
In September, China’s LV exports reached 611k items, representing a powerful YoY enhance of 18.2% and a MoM rise of seven.1%. PVs led the enlargement, with abroad shipments up by 19.5% YoY to 552k items. CV exports additionally grew steadily, climbing by 7.0% YoY to 58k items. From January by way of September, shipments totaled 4.6 million items, up by 12.6% in comparison with the identical interval within the earlier yr. As such, full-year volumes are on observe to set a brand new document, reinforcing China’s position as a key participant in international automotive commerce.
Commerce-in subsidies within the nation are being tightened. After first showing in Sichuan, the lottery system has been applied in key areas corresponding to Shanghai, successfully making it a de facto nationwide coverage for This fall 2025. The shift to a capped, biweekly draw is a deliberate transfer by the federal government to manage fiscal expenditure amid overwhelming software volumes. In accordance with official information, as of October 22, 2025, functions for subsidies beneath the nationwide automotive trade-in program had exceeded 10 million. Given this massive demand, the coverage changes are comprehensible.
The synchronized rollout of lottery techniques throughout various areas indicators a coordinated, top-down effort to cap whole fiscal expenditure. The announcement of those capped techniques doubtless pulled ahead important demand into early October, contributing to sturdy September figures. For the rest of This fall, buying conduct might develop into extra risky, oscillating between software cycles as shoppers rush to use for every biweekly lottery draw. The uncertainty launched by the lottery may quickly scale back the conversion of buy intent for some shoppers who can now not depend on receiving the subsidy. This provides a brand new layer of complexity to the buying journey. Whereas Shanghai and Sichuan are main indicators, we anticipate different provinces dealing with comparable funds and demand pressures to observe go well with promptly. The timeline for these regional rollouts can be a crucial variable affecting the nationwide gross sales trajectory.
From a manufacturing perspective, the current Nexperia incident demonstrates a retreat from globalization, with geopolitical elements and tariff obstacles changing into the conventional constraints on steady provide. The disruption stems from a geopolitical dispute. In late September, the Dutch authorities took management of Nexperia, a chipmaker headquartered within the Netherlands however absolutely owned by China’s Wingtech. In response, China imposed export controls on Nexperia’s merchandise manufactured in its Chinese language amenities, which account for about 70% of its whole output.
We imagine that the Nexperia incident can have restricted short-term direct influence on Chinese language automakers; they might even acquire market alternatives as a result of provide difficulties confronted by abroad rivals. Nevertheless, in the long term it’s going to function a wake-up name, accelerating home substitution and self-reliance in core elements of China’s automotive provide chain, corresponding to chips. We anticipate Chinese language automakers to handle supply-chain weaknesses and collaborate extra intently with home chip producers to construct a extra resilient industrial chain.
This text was first printed on GlobalData’s devoted analysis platform, the Automotive Intelligence Heart.
“China’s market and manufacturing developments exhibiting resilience – GlobalData” was initially created and printed by Simply Auto, a GlobalData owned model.
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