China wholesales September 2026: Market down -28%, MG, Fang Cheng Bao, Leapmotor up

MG sales more than double year-on-year in September.

According to CPCA, domestic sales of passenger cars dramatically accelerate their fall to -28% year-on-year in September at 1,618,000 units, compared with 2,247,000 in September 2025. It means China’s traditional “Golden September” sales season subdued. CAAM has domestic sales in September down -26% to 1,904,000 units, marking the 6th consecutive month of declines exceeding 20%. Note however that September 2025 witnessed a rush to buy vehicles in the wake of the withdrawal of subsidies in some provinces. Also, this year the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday fell in late September and impacted sales. All in all, this brings the year-to-date tally off -21.7% to 13,334,000 units vs. 17,031,000 a year ago. In the detail, SUVs are down -19% for the month at 916,000, cars are off -37.7% to 636,000 and MPVs down -31.1% to 66,000. Year-to-date, SUVs drop -12.5% To 7,387,000, cars are down -31.8% to 5,304,000 and MPVs fall -20.5% to 644,000.

Fang Cheng Bao is up 62.8%

New Energy Vehicles (NEV) are up to a fantastic 67% share thanks to sales down “just” -16.7% to 1,084,000 (57.9% a year ago). The NEV share is 61.6% including trucks. Non-NEVs (including HEVs) are down -43% this month, with ICEs off -49% but HEVs up 25%. In contrast with the domestic situation, passenger cars exports surge 73.7% year-on-year to 917,000 units. When including trucks they are up 61.4% to 1.053 million units according to CAAM, the fourth consecutive time above 1 million. Year-to-date exports stand at 8,205,000 units, already above the 7,090,000 units of the Full Year 2025. An annual total exceeding 10 million units is now within sight. Note NEV passenger car exports surge 163.5% YoY to 558,000 units, accounting for 60.8% of the total export volume, up from 39.8% a year ago. Adding exports to domestic sales gives overall shipments down -8.9% to 2,549,000 units and down -5.4% to 19,736,000 YTD.

Leapmotor gains 30.8%.

In the brands charts, BYD (-39.1%) continues to fall much faster than its home market and endures its largest YoY drop since last June. Its year-to-date tally is now off a catastrophic -42.5%. Geely (-26%) fares a little better and holds onto the second spot with almost 138,000 sales. Toyota (-18%) posts an encouraging result in context and stays above Volkswagen (-39.8%) in total freefall. Toyota is now just 2,802 sales below VW year-to-date vs. a 19,129-unit advantage in September, so at this rate it will pass the German brand YTD next month. Leapmotor (+30.8%) continues to blissfully ignore the mediocre market at over 78,000 sales and #5. Tesla (-9.4%) resists well and climbs to #6 vs. #8 year-to-date. Chery (-21.5%) and Wuling (-33.8%) follow.

The Nomad lineup helps Xiaomi to #9 brand in September

In 9th place Xiaomi (-4.6%) now benefits from its new Sky Nomad SUV lineup and returns to the Top 10 for the 4th time this year at #9. Fang Cheng Bao (+62.8%) is the only additional brand in the Top 10 to post a YoY gain, and an enormous one at that, repeating at a record #10. Further down, MG (+101.9%) doubles its sales YoY and manages no less than the biggest uptick in the Top 45, climbing to #13 and over 32,000 sales, its strongest volume since July 2022 (54,009) and best ranking since December 2021 (#12). Nevo (+61.8%) is also in great shape at #17. As for previous stars of the market, Li Auto drops -6.3% and Xpeng is off -16.3%, both falling slower than the market however. Below, NIO (+56.9%), Zeekr (+41.2%), Denza (+33.5%) and Arcfox (+25%) stand out. Huajing lands at #40. The only foreign carmakers in positive are Mazda (+55.8%) and Smart (+17.7%). Finally, notice ultra-luxury brand Maextro up 36.3% to 2,585 sales.

The Tesla Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in China in September.

Looking at models, this month the Tesla Model Y (-1.6%) is on top, confirming a stupendous month worldwide (it will also be #1 in Europe). At over 50,000 sales, it scores its highest monthly volume so far this year. The Geely Xingyuan (-7.9%) is relegated to 2nd place but still commands the YTD ranking with an advantage of over 33,000 units. The Fang Cheng Bao Tai 7 (+238.9%) advances to a record third place, a ranking it now also holds YTD. The BYD Yuan Up (-12.2%) and the best-selling recent launch the Leapmotor A10 complete the Top 5. Excellent scores also by the Nevo Q05 (+852,1%) and the new BYD Song Ultra (#7). Toyota manages to place two models in the Top 10: the Corolla Cross (+7.2%) at #8 and the RAV4 (-15.1%) at #10.

Previous month: China wholesales August 2026: Fang Cheng Bao (+111.8%), Leapmotor (+65.9%) ignore market down -23.7%

One year ago: China wholesales September 2025: Leapmotor, Xiaomi, Xpeng at all time high, market up 12.4%

Full September 2026 Top 94 All brands and Top 592 All models below.