China retail July 2025: Market slows down growth (+2.2%), BYD down, Geely up, AITO in Top 10

AITO is among the Top 10 brands in China for the first time in July.

Today we can share with you All brands and All models retail sales data for China in June. After shooting up 22.7% in June, the Chinese retail market drastically slows down its growth in July, with the selection of vehicles included in this report edging up just 2.2% year-on-year to 1,805,631. This way, the year-to-date tally is up 10.7% to 12,336,784. BSCB is the only non-Chinese medium to cover both wholesales (ex-factory shipments) and retail sales data for China so you can get the most complete picture of the largest new car market in the world. Retail sales tend to give a more authentic picture of the market as they roughly correspond to registrations by end-customers and are more difficult to artificially boost with exports which can sometimes be the case for wholesales data.

The big event atop the brands ranking is BYD struggling (as it also does with wholesales) with retail sales down a paltry -20.2% year-on-year. We have reached peak BYD already but the carmaker holds onto an unassailable lead with just under 240,000 retail sales. Among continuing models, the Song L (+224.5%), Seal 06 (+14.9%), Tuan Up (+3.5%) and Dolphin (+2.7%) are the sole main winners just as the Han (-55.5%), Yuan Plus (-55.3%), Seagull (-33.2%), Qin L (-26.1%) and Qin Plus (-19.5%) disappoint. Among recent launches, the Sealion 05 (12,410) and Seal 05 (8,780) are the only ones making a true impact. Geely (+91.3%) overtakes Volkswagen (-8.9%) to snap the 2nd spot for the 2nd time this year after last February. The Xingyuan, #1 model this month, accounts for 28% of the carmaker’s sales for the month and the Galaxy New Engery lineup (+141.4%) amounts to 22%.

The Geely Xingyuan breaks its volume record in July.

Toyota (-4.2%) holds onto the 4th spot above Wuling (+17.7%), Changan (+12.1%) and Chery (+11.1%) all in fantastic shape. Nissan (+16.9%) at #8, Buick (+18.1%) at #15 and Hyundai (+22.8%) at #35 are the only foreigners sporting double-digit gains in the Top 35. Nissan could be onto something with the new N7 sedan totalling 6,338 sales this month. AITO (-1.3%) breaks into the brands Top 10 for the first time despite falling slightly YoY and Tesla (-12.5%), in difficulty, rounds out the Top 10. Leapmotor (+90.7%) continues on its fantastic run and climbs to #12 overall with just under 40,000 sales, a new ranking record for the brand. Xpeng (+240.4%) makes itself noticed at #17 while Xiaomi (+130.7%) crosses the 30,000 monthly sales milestone for the first time, as its new YU7 SUV closes in on the Top 100 for its 2nd month in market.

Looking at the models ranking in isolation, the Geely Xingyuan breaks its volume record again and is back to #1. The BYD Qin Plus (-19.5%) is also up one spot on last month to #2, both models benefitting from the fall of the Tesla Model Y (-14.4%) to #3. The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV (+91.3%) shines at #4 with the BYD Seal 06 (+14.9%) making it two BYDs in the Top 6 vs. 5 a year ago in July 2024. The Nissan Sylphy (-1.9%) is up two ranks on last month to #5. The new AITO M8 jumps into the Top 10 for the first time at #10 while the Xiaomi SU7 (+67.3%) is up six spots to #11 and ranks #6 year-to-date. Note the SU7 Ultra, counted separately, ranks #195 with 2,486 sales.

Previous month: China retail June 2025: Market up 22.7%, VW up 25.9%, AITO and Leapmotor break records

One year ago: China retail July 2024: BYD places 5 models in Top 6, smashes records as do Li Auto, NIO, Leapmotor 

Full July 2025 Top 124 All brands and Top 744 All models below.