China’s auto industry is increasingly looking overseas as weak domestic demand, falling profits and intense price competition undermine sales at home.
Passenger vehicle retail sales fell 21.7% year over year to 13.33 million units through September 2026, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
The association expects full-year sales to decline 22% to 18.5 million vehicles. Sales of new-energy vehicles, including electric cars, also dropped 12.8% during the first nine months.
Meanwhile, China's auto manufacturing profits fell 22.8% year over year from January through September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Mounting financial pressure is encouraging automakers to pursue export markets, although potential trade barriers from the United States and Europe threaten that strategy.
Related Tweet:
🇨🇳 Chinese carmakers just overtook Japanese brands in Europe for the first time. In Q3 2026 (July–September), Chinese brands took 12.7% of European new-car registrations, ahead of Japanese brands (Toyota, Nissan, Honda and others) at 11.9%, according to Dataforce. Five years ago Chinese brands held about 1%.
— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) October 28, 2026
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