China’s car sales in the first week of December fell 32 per cent year‑on‑year to 297,000 units

China’s passenger vehicle retail sales from December 1 to 7 reached 297,000 units, down 32 per cent from the same period last year and 8 per cent from late November, according to Sina.

Wholesale shipments by domestic automakers during the same period totalled 298,000 units, a near 40 per cent year-on-year decrease and 18 per cent lower than the previous month. In Chinese automotive reporting, “wholesale total” refers to vehicles shipped from manufacturers to dealerships, rather than sold directly to consumers. This explains why wholesale and retail numbers are similar but not identical: the 298,000 wholesale units represent deliveries to dealers during the period, regardless of whether customers immediately purchased them.

New-energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models, accounted for 185,000 retail units in the first week of December, down 17 per cent year-on-year and 10 per cent from late November. NEV wholesale shipments totalled 191,000 units, representing a 22 per cent decrease year-on-year and a 20 per cent month-on-month decline. NEVs represented 62.2 per cent of total passenger vehicle retail sales and 64.3 per cent of wholesale volume during the week.

Cumulative data for 2025 indicate that total passenger vehicle retail sales reached 21.78 million units by early December, up 5 per cent from the same period in 2024. NEV retail sales totalled 11.66 million units, up 19 per cent year-on-year. Total wholesale shipments for the year reached 27.06 million units, up 10 per cent, while NEV wholesale volumes reached 13.95 million units, a 27 per cent increase compared with 2024.

Production data for the first week of December show that fuel-powered light vehicles totalled 212,000 units, down 27 per cent year-on-year and 18 per cent from November. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle production reached 140,000 units, a 10 per cent decrease from the same period last year and 2 per cent lower than November.

During the first week of December, NEVs accounted for the majority of passenger vehicle retail and wholesale sales in China, while total passenger vehicle sales and production were lower than in the same period in 2024 and in late November.