China wholesales February 2026: Market down -15.2%, BYD off -64.3%, Li i6 up to record #6

The Li i6 scores its first Top 10 finish only five months after launch.

According to data by the CAAM, Chinese wholesales drop a harsh -15.2% year-on-year in February to 1,805,000 units, bringing the year-to-date tally down -8.8% to 4,152,000. Passenger Vehicles are down -15.4% to 1,536,000 for the month and down -10.7% to 3,524,000 year-to-date while Commercial Vehicles are off -14% to 269,000 in February but up 3.9% year-to-date to 627,000. A few factors explain this paltry result. The period corresponds to the end of tax breaks for electric vehicles and the scaling back of local government trade-in subsidies. Also, this year’s Chinese New Year holiday fell in the latter half of February and lasted longer than usual, leaving only 16 working days for the month. Also at play are earlier-than-usual demand releases in late 2025 and a high comparison base from the previous year. Domestic sales sink -32.9% to just 1,133,000 and are down -23.1% to 2,799,00 after two months. 

For once sales of electrified vehicles (NEVs) also fall. BEVs are off -10.9% to 484,000 for the month, tilting the year-to-date volume into negative territory at -3.7% to 1,081,000. PHEVs are hit harder at -19.4% to 280,000 in February and -11.9% to 628,000 so far this year. In February, NEVs account for 42.7% of domestic sales, that market share being 46.8% for Passenger Vehicles and 21.1% for Commercial Vehicles. Meanwhile exports surge 58% to 586,000 Passenger Vehicles while Commercial Vehicle exports are up 23.1% to 87,000. Of note is the unsold car inventory reaching 3.57 million at the end of January, up from 580,000 a year earlier. Finally, China’s domestic passenger car brands are down -15.9% to 1,078,000 units or 70.2% share vs. 70.6% a year ago in February 2025, while the year-to-date tally is off -12.1% to 2,409,000 and 68.3% share vs. 69.4% over the same period in 2025.

The best-selling brand again, Geely places the Xingyuan at #1.

Looking at the brands ranking, we have not yet returned to “normal”. Geely (-24.6%) leads the way for the second straight month despite falling significantly faster than the market. Five Geely models manage to surpass the 10,000 sales mark: the Xingyuan (-4.3%), Boyue L (+82.8%), Xingrui (-18%), Emgrand (+39.4%) and Xingyue L (-61.9%). The carmaker’s Galaxy NEV sub-brand is up 16.7% to 21,865 sales or or 19.4% of its total volume for the month. Volkswagen (-18.9%) places 2nd with just over 100,000 sales. However all its models are in negative bar the Tiguan L (+20.7%), Lamando (+6.7%) and Tayron (+2.3%). Toyota (-13.7%) holds onto the third position, with the Highlander (+29.9%), Camry (+8.6%) and Sienna (+5.9%) preventing it from falling faster.

The big event of the month is, like in January, the complete collapse of BYD. The star carmaker sees its sales fall off a cliff at -64.3% year-on-year to just 68,623 units. Its best placed model is the Song Pro (-38%) at a paltry #27. These catastrophic results are spread across the lineup, with the Seagull down -78.3%, the Qin Plus at -73.5%, the Tang at -68.6% and the Yuan Plus at -34.1%. The Seal 05 (+227.1%) and Dolphin (+1.2%) are the only models in positive just as the new Sealion 06 is able to inject an additional 6,287 sales to the brand’s total. Explanations for these two months of horrendous performance are difficult to isolate. The most probable cause is pulled-forward sales to the end of 2025, but the brand was already falling heavily then. Perhaps BYD has lost the pricing race to the bottom and dealers are reluctant to reduce prices further, resulting in a lack of competitiveness. The first two months of the year are usually pretty chaotic so the brand’s March performance will be a more reliable indicator of its long-term health.

The new Sealion 06 adds a much needed 6,300 sales to BYD’s total

Despite the surrounding gloom, there are still brands in YoY positive this month. Chery (+9.55) advances to 5th place, a ranking it now also holds year-to-date. Tesla (+42.7%) impresses at #6 but ranks #14 year-to-date vs. #9 over the Full Year 2025. BMW (+0.6%) edges up at #9 as does Li Auto (+0.6%) at #12, its highest ranking since December 2024. Further down, notice Fang Cheng Bao (+193.2%), NIO (+65.4%), AITO (+55.5%) and Nevo (+52.3%), all brands above the symbolic 10,000 volume mark. Disappointing are Mercedes (-48.4%), Wuling (-35.1%), Hongqi (-29.6%) and Buick (-24.6%). As for Audi (-12.8%) it can’t benefit from the launch of the “made exclusively for China” E5 sportback which only sold a meagre 303 units in February.

As far as the models ranking is concerned, the Geely Xingyuan (-4.3%) reclaims the pole position for the first time since last August. The Tesla Model Y (+215.8%) surges to #2, outclassing its local competitor the new Xiaomi YU7, down to #3 but still in the YTD lead after a fantastic victory in January. The Geely Boyue L (+82.8%) shoots up but drops two spots on January to #4 while the VW Lavida (-14.8%) is back up three ranks to round out the Top 5. The best performer in the Top 10 is the new Li i6 up 14 spots on last month to a record #6. This is a particularly strong result for a model launched last September, and could push Li Auto to release more BEVs after relying almost exclusively on EREVs. Further down, the NIO ES8 (+2250.7%) continues to impress at #17.

Previous month: China wholesales January 2026: Xiaomi YU7 overall best-seller, BYD down -62.3%

One year ago: China wholesales February 2025: Geely Xingyuan best-seller, Xiaomi SU7 #4

Full February 2026 Top 95 All brands and Top 587 All models below.