China's automobile output, sales both rise over 13% YoY in July 2025

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In July 2025, China's automakers produced 2.591 million vehicles and sold 2.593 million, down 7.3% and 10.7% month on month, but up 13.3% and 14.7% year on year, according to data issued by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on August 12.

For the first seven months of 2024, the country's automobile output reached 18.235 million units and sales 18.269 million, marking year-on-year increases of 12.7% and 12%, with growth momentum slightly accelerating from the first half of the year.

Domestic vehicle sales stood at 2.018 million units in July, a 12.7% drop from the previous month but still 12.6% higher than a year earlier. Sales of conventional oil-fueled vehicles totaled 981,000 units, down 17.4% from June yet rising 8.4% year on year.

Between January and July, China sold 14.588 million vehicles domestically, up 11.8% from last year, while sales of traditional oil-fueled models fell 1.8% over a year earlier to 7.676 million units.

Passenger vehicle production reached 2.293 million units in July, with sales at 2.287 million—down 6% and 9.8% month on month, but up 13% and 14.7% from a year earlier.

In the first seven months, production and sales of passenger vehicles rose to 15.838 million and 15.841 million respectively, representing double-digit growth of over 13%.

Chinese-branded passenger vehicles continued to expand their dominance, with July sales hitting 1.604 million units—up 21.3% year on year—capturing 70.1% of the whole automobile market, a 3.8 percentage-point gain from last year. From January to July, their sales surged 24.4% to 10.873 million units, raising market share to 68.6%, up 6.1 percentage points from a year ago.

Domestic passenger vehicle sales fell 12.1% from June to 1.788 million units in July, but remained 12.1% above last year's level. Traditional oil-fueled passenger vehicle sales totaled 813,000 units, down 17% month on month yet 9.5% higher than a year ago.

Cumulative January–July domestic passenger vehicle sales rose 13.4% over the previous year to 12.738 million units, while conventional oil-fueled model sales edged down 0.5% to 6.239 million units.

Commercial vehicle production stood at 298,000 units in July, with sales at 306,000 units—down 17.1% from June but up over 14% year on year. Of those, sales of natural gas-powered commercial vehicles fell 5.8% month-on-month and 5.9% year-on-year to 16,000 units. Over the first seven months, output reached 2.397 million units and sales 2.428 million units, with modest year-on-year growth of 6% and 3.9%, while natural gas models slid 9.6% to 134,000 units.

New energy vehicles (NEVs) continued to grow, with July production at 1.243 million units and sales at 1.262 million units, both rising over 26% year on year and making up 48.7% of all new vehicle sales.

From January to July, NEV output reached 8.232 million units and sales 8.22 million, soaring 39.2% and 38.5% year on year, respectively, with sales accounting for 45% of the total vehicle market.

Domestic NEV sales in July came to 1.037 million units, down 7.8% from June but 16.9% higher than a year earlier. Passenger NEVs recorded sales of 975,000 units domestically, slipping 7.5% month-on-month yet climbing 14.4% year-on-year. Commercial NEV sales reached 62,000 units, falling 12.1% from the previous month but surging 77.8% from last year.

Between January and July, domestic NEV sales totaled 6.913 million units, a 32.3% rise from the same period in 2024. Passenger NEVs contributed 6.499 million units (+30.9% YoY), while commercial NEVs accounted for 413,000 units (+58.1% YoY).

In July, NEVs represented 51.4% of domestic automobile sales, with passenger NEVs taking a 54.5% share of passenger vehicle sales and commercial NEVs making up 26.8% of commercial vehicle sales.

From January to July, NEVs held a 47.4% share of domestic automobile sales, with passenger NEVs at 51% and commercial NEVs at 22.3% of their respective segments.

Exports remained a growth driver, with 575,000 vehicles shipped overseas in July—down 2.8% from June but up 22.6% from last year. In the first seven months, vehicle exports climbed 12.8% over the year-ago period to 3.68 million units.

Passenger vehicle exports reached 499,000 units in July, a 0.5% dip from June yet a 25.2% increase year-on-year. From January to July, passenger vehicle exports climbed 13.3% year-on-year to 3.103 million units.

Among China's top 10 exporters in July, Chery shipped 119,000 vehicles overseas, up 31.9% year-on-year and accounting for 20.7% of total exports. BYD posted the fastest growth, exporting 81,000 units—1.6 times more than in July 2024.

For the January–July period, Chery led the top exporters with 667,000 units shipped, a 7.3% increase year-on-year and 18.1% of total exports. BYD again saw the sharpest gains, with exports surging 1.3 times to 553,000 units.

NEV exports in July reached 225,000 units, up 10% from June and more than doubling year-on-year. Passenger NEVs accounted for 220,000 units, up 11.9% month-on-month and 1.2 times higher year-on-year.

From January to July, China exported 1.308 million NEVs, an 84.6% spike year-on-year. Of those, passenger NEV exports rose 81.6% year on year to 1.254 million units.