Gas-powered passenger car retail sales in China fell 40% year-on-year in August, as new energy vehicle (NEV) penetration reached a record 65.2%, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Tuesday.

Total sales of passenger cars in China reached 1.54 million units last month, down 23.6% from August 2025 but up 5.5% from July. NEV retail sales totaled 1.005 million units, down 10.1% year-on-year and up 5.7% month-on-month. NEV is a Chinese term for all-electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and hydrogen vehicles (whose sales are almost non-existent).

All-electric vehicles were the only segment that continued to grow slightly.

The two figures indicate that about 536,000 ICE (internal combustion engine) passenger cars were sold in August in China, compared with roughly 894,000 a year earlier, down 40%. The market share of ICE vehicles fell to 34.8%.

BEVs were the only powertrain category to continue growing, with 698,000 BEVs sold, up 1.7% from last year and up 7.9% from July. Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) continue their eight-month decline, with 307,000 units sold, down 25.8% from last year. In the NEV sales mix, BEVs had a 69.5% share, while PHEVs had a 30.6% share.

CPCA linked the contraction in fuel-car demand partly to higher running costs. It said Chinese gasoline prices had increased by more than 1,720 yuan (256 USD) per tonne since the beginning of 2026, including a 180 yuan (26.8 USD) increase since late July. The current average price of 95-octane gasoline in China is about 8.7 yuan per liter (1.3 USD per liter)

From January through August, China’s passenger car retail sales reached 11.7 million units, down 20.8% year-on-year. NEV retail sales totaled 6.7 million units, down 11.6%. ICE sales were 5 million units, down 30%. The NEV-to-ICE market share ratio was 56.9% to 43.1%.

Exports provided support for automakers: passenger car exports rose 77.8% to 888,000 units, while NEV exports jumped 154.7% to 518,000 units in August.

Powertrain	August 2025	August 2026	YoY
ICE	894,000	536,000	−40.0%
NEV	1,101,000	1,005,000	−10.1%
Total	1,995,000	1,541,000	−23.6%

Source: CPCA.

Source: CarNewsChina (View original)