China's Domestic Car Sales Decline 20% in First 4 Months, Inventory Surges 34%

(Central News Agency, Taipei, 12th) Entering 2026, China's automotive market has experienced a significant decline, with domestic car sales falling by 20.6% in the first four months. At the same time, car dealer inventory in April reached 2.6 million units, a substantial increase of 34% compared to the same period last year.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released its latest production and sales data yesterday, showing that in April, automobile production and sales completed 2.575 million units and 2.526 million units respectively, down 1.7% and 2.5% year-on-year. From January to April, automobile production and sales completed 9.614 million units and 9.574 million units respectively, down 5.5% and 4.8%.

China's automotive industry saw a slight decline in production and sales in the first four months, mainly due to surging exports largely offsetting the decline in domestic demand.

Data shows that from January to April, China's domestic car sales were 6.447 million units, a decrease of 20.6% year-on-year. Among them, domestic sales of traditional fuel vehicles were 3.527 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 21%; domestic sales of new energy vehicles were 2.92 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 20.2%, a rare decline.

At the same time, from January to April, China's automobile exports reached 3.127 million units, a significant increase of 61.5%. Among them, new energy vehicle exports were 1.384 million units, a year-on-year increase of 1.2 times; traditional fuel vehicle exports were 1.743 million units, a year-on-year increase of 34.6%. China's automobile export sales already account for 32.6% of total sales, a significant increase from 19.1% in 2025.

The China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) today released the results of its April "Automobile Dealer Inventory" survey, stating that the comprehensive inventory coefficient for car dealers in April was 1.89, an increase of 7.4% from March and a substantial increase of 34% from the same period last year.

According to statistics from the Passenger Car Association of the China Automobile Dealers Association, passenger car terminal sales in April reached 1.384 million units. Based on this, the total inventory of car dealers at the end of April was approximately 2.6 million units.

CADA analyzed that the car market in April saw a significant slowdown in terminal transaction pace due to the impact of the Qingming Festival and the overspending of sales in Q1. In late April, multiple new cars were launched at the Beijing International Auto Show, coupled with consumers' anticipation of discounts at various auto shows during the May Day holiday and a wait-and-see attitude towards the intensive launch of new cars, leading to a delayed release of purchasing intentions and demand, resulting in sluggish terminal market transactions and a significant drop in sales. (Editors: Yang Sheng-ru / Tang Sheng-yang) 1150512

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