China retail September 2025: Geely, Leapmotor, Xiaomi, Xpeng & Fang Cheng Bao at record high

The new Tai 3 helps BYD’s Fang Cheng Bao reach new heights.

Today we can share with you All brands and All models retail sales data for China for September. The market is up by a measured 4.1% year-on-year 2,208,545 units for the  selection of vehicles included in this report. This leads to a YTD tally up 9.3% to 16,477,351. 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.

Xpeng sales are up 99% year-on-year in September.

Once again BYD (-16%) is in difficulty this month. Its year-ago result was particularly high (all time record volume) but it does seem like the brand has now peaked at home. All its best-sellers are in negative bar the Qin Plus (+0.9%), Yuan Up (+60.8%) and Dolphin (+38.8%), while a selection of recent launches, such as the Sealion 06 (30,564), Seal 05 (15,026) and Sealion 05 (11,807), do their best to prevent the carmaker from actually freefalling. In contrast Geely (+68.3%) continues to surge, even breaking its record volume just under 197,000 sales. The lineup’s superstar, the Xingyuan hatch EV, crosses the 50,000 monthly sales milestone for the first time and the Galaxy range of NEVs doubles its sales year-on-year (+96.8%) to 53,360. Volkswagen (-18.3%) has another poor month and Toyota (-4.1%) is also in negative with Wuling (+2%) rounding out the Top 5.

Geely almost reaches 200,000 sales in China.

Tesla (-0.3%) is stable at #6 vs. #9 year-to-date, distancing Changan (+4.7%) and Chery (+5.5%) both roughly matching the market. Leapmotor (+80.8%) is the other hero of the month, smashing its volume record, just hit last month, by over 10,000 units to 58,839. The startup manufacturer also breaks into the Top 10 for the first time at #9. Audi (+4.8%) posts an encouraging gain to close out the Top 10. Below, Nissan (-12.7%), Honda (-9.5%) and Mercedes (-8%) all struggle while BMW (+6.3%) does better. Xiaomi (+208.7%) crosses the 40,000 monthly sales milestone for the first time and advances to a record #15, with Xpeng (+99%) and Fang Cheng Bao (+297.9%) also at all time highs. 

The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV hits an all time high volume this month.

Looking at the models ranking in isolation, the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV (+83.1%) soars to first place, its first monthly win since February 2023, and breaks its volume record to almost 57,000 units (previous best 47,769 in October 2021). This resurgence is linked with the recent launch of a four-door variant. The Geely Xingyuan is relegated to 2nd place despite also reaching an all time high tally, and stays #1 year-to-date. The Tesla Model Y (-10.2%) skids as sales of its elongated version, the Model Y L, counted separately, soar to 8,216. BYD monopolises the next three ranks with the Qin Plus (+0.9%), Seal 06 (-17.1%) and the new Sealion 06 above 30,000 units for the first time. The Qin L (-32%), Yuan Up (+60.8%) and Seagull (-47.5%) also make it into the Top 10. The diminutive Changan Lumin (+76.6%) is up to a record #12 while the new Xiaomi YU7 continues to gear up at #13.

Previous month: China retail August 2025: Leapmotor, Xiaomi, Xpeng and Onvo break records in stable market

One year ago: China retail September 2024: Market up 13.1%, BYD, Li Auto, Jetour and Leapmotor break records

Full September 2025 Top 127 All brands and Top 763 All models below.