Retail Sales Growth of Passenger Cars in April Reaches New High in Nearly a Decade, Auto Production and Sales Exceed 10 Million Units for the First Time in the First Four Months! [SMM Special Topic]

In mid-May 2025, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) successively released relevant data on the automotive industry and the passenger vehicle market for April 2025. According to CAAM, from January to April 2025, the increment of charging infrastructure reached 1.247 million units, and domestic sales of NEVs totaled 3.658 million units, with both charging infrastructure and NEVs continuing to grow rapidly... SMM has compiled relevant data on the automotive market and the power battery market for April for readers' reference.

Automotive Sector

CAAM: Auto Production and Sales Both Increased YoY in April, Exceeding 10 Million Units in the First Four Months

In April, auto production and sales reached 2.619 million units and 2.59 million units, respectively, down 12.9% MoM and 11.2% MoM,but up 8.9% YoY and 9.8% YoY, respectively.

From January to April, auto production and sales totaled 10.175 million units and 10.06 million units,up 12.9% YoY and 10.8% YoY, respectively,with the growth rates of production and sales narrowing by 1.6 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively, compared to January-March. This is the first time in history that production and sales exceeded 10 million units in the first four months.

CAAM: NEV Production and Sales Both Increased in April, Up Over 43% YoY

In April, NEV production and sales reached 1.251 million units and 1.226 million units,up 43.8% YoY and 44.2% YoY, respectively,with NEV new vehicle sales accounting for 47.3% of total new vehicle sales.

From January to April, NEV production and sales totaled 4.429 million units and 4.3 million units,up 48.3% YoY and 46.2% YoY, respectively,with NEV new vehicle sales accounting for 42.7% of total new vehicle sales.

CAAM: Auto Exports Continued to Increase YoY in April, NEV Exports Up 52.6% in January-April

In April, auto exports reached 517,000 units, up 2% MoM,and up 2.6% YoY.From January to April, auto exports totaled 1.937 million units, up 6% YoY.

In April, NEV exports reached 200,000 units, up 27% MoM,and up 76% YoY.Among them, exports of passenger NEVs reached 190,000 units, up 28.2% MoM and 70.6% YoY; exports of new energy commercial vehicles reached 10,000 units, up 6.7% MoM and 3.5 times YoY.

From January to April, NEV exports reached 642,000 units,up 52.6% YoY.Among them, exports of passenger NEVs reached 609,000 units, up 48% YoY; exports of new energy commercial vehicles reached 33,000 units, up 2.6 times YoY.

The Passenger Vehicle Branch of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) also released the passenger vehicle market situation for April 2025. According to CPCA data, retail sales of passenger vehicles nationwide reached 1.755 million units in April, up 14.5% YoY, but down 9.4% MoM. Cumulative retail sales since the beginning of the year totaled 6.872 million units, up 7.9% YoY. In previous years, the domestic auto market retail sales followed a pattern of "low in the first half, high in the second half." This April, retail sales were only slightly lower than the peak of 1.81 million units in April 2018, remaining at a historically high level for April.

In terms of new energy vehicles (NEVs), retail sales of passenger NEVs reached 905,000 units in April, up 33.9% YoY, but down 8.7% MoM. Cumulative retail sales from January to April totaled 3.324 million units, up 35.7%.

Regarding exports, the CPCA stated that with the emergence of China's NEV scale advantages and market expansion needs, more and more NEV products made in China are going global, with their overseas recognition continuing to rise. Among them, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) accounted for 33% of NEV exports (19% YoY). Despite recent interference from some external countries, the export of independently developed PHEVs to developing countries has grown rapidly, with promising prospects. In April, 189,000 passenger NEVs were exported, up 44.2% YoY and 31.6% MoM. They accounted for 44.6% of passenger vehicle exports, up 14 percentage points YoY. Among them, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 65% of NEV exports (81% YoY), while A00+A0-class BEVs, as the core focus, accounted for 33% of NEV exports (33% YoY).

Regarding the passenger vehicle market in April, the CPCA commented that as retail sales in the auto market were still in the recovery phase after the price war in April 2024, the monthly retail sales accounted for only 6.7% of the annual total, slightly lower than the approximately 6.9% share in a normal April. This year, the national trade-in policy was launched early, with subsidies implemented in one go, leading to better market growth at the beginning of the year. As a result, the price war was relatively mild, and the cut-throat competition in the industry improved due to market growth. The YoY retail sales growth rate in April this year was the highest in the same period of normal years over the past decade, reversing the characteristic of low retail sales growth in April over the past decade and further weakening the quarterly cyclical fluctuations in the auto market.

As retail sales in the auto market were still in the recovery phase after the price war in April 2024, the monthly retail sales accounted for only 6.7% of the annual total, slightly lower than the approximately 6.9% share in a normal April. This year, the national trade-in policy was launched early, with subsidies implemented in one go, leading to better market growth at the beginning of the year. As a result, the price war was relatively mild, and the cut-throat competition in the industry improved due to market growth. The YoY retail sales growth rate in April this year was the highest in the same period of normal years over the past decade, reversing the characteristic of low retail sales growth in April over the past decade and further weakening the quarterly cyclical fluctuations in the auto market.

The Passenger Car Branch of CPCA stated that the characteristics of the passenger car market in April 2025 are as follows: 1. Both wholesale and production volumes of passenger car producers in April reached record highs for the month. ; 2. Domestic retail sales of passenger cars from January to March 2025 achieved a positive growth of 6%, with the growth rate reaching 14.5% in April, a net increase of 220,000 units YoY, achieving an unexpected "strong start" with a 7.9% growth from January to April 2025; 3. This year's price wars with direct price reductions have been relatively mild, but hidden incentives such as model year upgrades and adjustments to owner benefits have emerged in abundance. Only 14 car models had price reductions in April, a significant decrease from 41 models in April last year and 19 models in April 2023, reflecting a clear cooling trend in price reductions. The sales promotion margin for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles in April was 22.2%, an increase of 0.1 percentage point MoM, with sales promotions for internal combustion engine vehicles remaining stable at around 22% for 10 consecutive months; 4. The wholesale share of domestic brands in the passenger car market in April was 70.3%, and the domestic retail share was 65.5%, both showing an increase of around 8 percentage points YoY; 5. Producer inventory levels remained generally stable from January to April 2025. From January to April, producer inventory increased by 80,000 units, channel inventory increased by 40,000 units, and the overall circulation system inventory increased by 120,000 units, while producer inventory decreased by 410,000 units from January to April last year; 6. The domestic retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles rebounded to 51.5%, demonstrating strong growth of new energy vehicles supported by inclusive policies such as scrappage and renewal, trade-in policies, and the exemption of purchase tax for new energy vehicles; 7. From January to April 2025, exports of domestic brand internal combustion engine passenger cars reached 830,000 units, a 13% decline from 960,000 units in the same period last year, while exports of domestic brand new energy vehicles reached 480,000 units, an 86% increase, with new energy vehicles accounting for 37% of domestic brand exports. Although domestic brands actively destocked in Russia at the beginning of the year, leading to a decline in exports to Russia, the market share of domestic brands in Russia still remained above 55%. Exports in April gradually stabilized. Considering the current situation of the Russian automotive industry, Chinese automotive exports to Russia are expected to recover to a certain level; 8. The contribution of incremental and replacement purchases continues to increase. As of 24:00 on April 24, 2.705 million vehicles nationwide had participated in the trade-in program, with the number of applications increasing by 1.2 million from 1.5 million on March 24. Considering the retail sales volume of around 1.72 million private passenger cars in March, approximately 70% of private car buyers in April were beneficiaries of the trade-in program, with the proportion of first-time private car buyers dropping to around 31%. Incremental and replacement purchases driven by consumption upgrades have become the absolute mainstream of car purchases.

In terms of power batteries,

the cumulative sales volume of power and other batteries from January to April 2025 was 403.9 GWh, representing a cumulative YoY increase of 73.7%.

In April, the sales volume of power and other batteries in China was 118.1 GWh, up 2.3% MoM and 73.5% YoY. Among them, power battery sales reached 86.6 GWh, accounting for 73.4% of total sales, down 1.0% MoM and up 72.8% YoY. Sales of other batteries were 31.5 GWh, accounting for 26.6% of total sales, up 12.5% MoM and up 75.5% YoY.

From January to April, cumulative sales of power and other batteries in China reached 403.9 GWh, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 73.7%. Among them, cumulative sales of power batteries were 303.9 GWh, accounting for 75.2% of total sales, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 56.8%. Cumulative sales of other batteries were 100.0 GWh, accounting for 24.8% of total sales, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 157.8%.

From January to April 2025, power battery installations in China reached 184.3 GWh, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 52.8%

. In April, power battery installations in China were 54.1 GWh, down 4.3% MoM, with a year-on-year increase of 52.8%. Among them, ternary battery installations were 9.3 GWh, accounting for 17.2% of total installations, down 7.0% MoM and down 6.3% YoY. LFP battery installations were 44.8 GWh, accounting for 82.8% of total installations, down 3.8% MoM and up 75.9% YoY.

From January to April, cumulative power battery installations in China were 184.3 GWh, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 52.8%. Among them, cumulative ternary battery installations were 34.3 GWh, accounting for 18.6% of total installations, with a cumulative year-on-year decrease of 15.9%. Cumulative LFP battery installations were 150.0 GWh, accounting for 81.4% of total installations, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 88.0%.