Seven out of ten A/H-share listed automakers achieved a "good start" in Q1, with the retail penetration rate of new energy returning to 50%.

Amid the industry's judgment of a "high first, then stable" trend this year, the domestic auto market achieved a "good start" in Q1.

The latest data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows that retail sales of passenger vehicles in March reached 1.94 million units, up 14.4% YoY and 40.2% MoM. Cumulative retail sales in Q1 totaled 5.127 million units, up 6.0% YoY. Among them, retail sales of passenger NEVs in March reached 991,000 units, up 38.0% YoY and 45.0% MoM, with a penetration rate of 51.1% in the overall domestic passenger vehicle market, an increase of 8.7 percentage points YoY.

"Driven by national policies to promote consumption, multiple provinces and cities have introduced and gradually implemented corresponding consumption promotion policies. Coupled with the full launch of offline activities such as auto shows and automaker subsidies, the auto market started off well in March," said Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the CPCA. He analyzed that as the pre-holiday consumption wave of internal combustion engine vehicles shifted to a post-holiday NEV consumption wave, the penetration rate of NEVs continued to rise, making NEVs the main driving force behind the recovery of the spring passenger vehicle market.

Among the 13 A/H-share listed automakers tracked by Caixin, nine achieved YoY growth in Q1, accounting for 70%.

SAIC, which regained the top spot in monthly sales, sold 385,700 units in March, up 1.14% YoY. Cumulative sales in Q1 reached 944,900 units, up 13.27% YoY. Since the beginning of this year, SAIC's monthly sales have maintained a continuous upward trend in both YoY and MoM data, with production and sales rebounding and improving. In terms of NEVs, SAIC sold 273,000 units in Q1, up nearly 30% YoY, including 126,000 units in March, with both YoY and MoM growth rates exceeding 40%. The sales proportion increased to 32.59%, up approximately 3.4 percentage points MoM.

BYD followed closely, with sales reaching 377,400 units in March, up 24.78% YoY and 16.90% MoM. Since 2025, BYD has entered a period of intensive technology deployment. In March alone, it held seven new product and technology launch events, including the "Lingyuan" in-vehicle drone system and "Megawatt Flash Charge" technology. The Qin L EV, Sea Lion 05 EV, high-end brand Denza N9, and Yangwang U7 were successively launched, while the Fangchengbao Titanium 3 began pre-sales. On April 9, BYD will officially launch the Han L and Tang L, two flagship models under its Dynasty series. Overseas, BYD's passenger NEV sales in Q1 reached 206,000 units, up approximately 110% YoY. Meanwhile, BYD has been recruiting in multiple countries and gradually expanding its ocean-going fleet to deepen its "vertical integration" strategic layout.

Changan Auto ranked third with sales of 268,100 units in March, up 3.48% YoY and 66.04% MoM. Changan's NEV sales exceeded 80,000 units in March, up 64.22% YoY, accounting for 32.47% of total sales. Notably, Avatr's sales in March reached 10,475 units, doubling both YoY and MoM. Among them, the Avatr 06 received over 20,117 orders within 26 hours of pre-sales, while the Avatr 012 has begun global delivery.

Additionally, Geely achieved sales of 232,200 units in March, up 53.93% YoY. In terms of NEVs, Geely's NEV sales approached 120,000 units in March, up 167.23% YoY, accounting for 51.55% of total sales. Its Galaxy brand sales reached 90,000 units, up 290% YoY, while the Zeekr brand sold 15,000 units, up 19% YoY.

Among the new automakers, except for Li Auto, both Leap Motor and XPeng achieved triple-digit YoY growth in March. Leap Motor sold 37,095 units in March, up 154.65% YoY and 46.70% MoM. XPeng's YoY growth exceeded 260%, with sales of 33,205 units in March.

Although the overall market showed signs of recovery, competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Traditional automakers such as GAC Group, Dongfeng Group, and Great Wall Motor still saw "stagnant" sales, with Dongfeng Group declining by 15.17%. Additionally, as the number of Huawei's cooperative automakers continues to increase, Seres is facing a "siege" from "brother" brands—its cumulative sales in Q1 fell by 40.10% to 68,400 units.

At the China EV100 Forum 2025 held at the end of March, Cui Dongshu predicted that retail sales of narrow passenger vehicles in 2025 will increase by 2% YoY to 23.3 million units. He also expects wholesale sales of passenger NEVs to reach 15.7 million units in 2025, up 28% YoY.

"Driven by national and local policies to promote consumption, offline activities at spring auto shows will fully activate the market atmosphere and accelerate the gathering of popularity. The timely holding of the Shanghai Auto Show and the model launch activities during its promotional period, combined with the implementation of local consumption promotion policies, will undoubtedly become a catalyst and trigger point for domestic auto consumption," said Cui Dongshu.