Passenger car sales in China dropped 0.73 percent month on month to hit 1.61 million units in October, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Auto production shrank to 1.59 million vehicles in October, a decrease of 4.48 percent from September. The MPV-segment was hurt most with a drop of 7.4% in sales.

Year-on-year shows a better picture, sales up 5.3% and production up 1.1%

The ‘independent brands’ (Chery, Geely, etc) saw a 4.2% growth in sales compared with September and a hefty 17.5% year-on-year. The China-Japan island row is likely partially responsible for the ‘flight’ to Chinese-Chinese automobiles.

Via: CAAM.

Recommended for you

Leapmotor reclaimed top spot from HIMA, Xpeng is last among major NEV startup players, Feb 2026 sales

Price-war evolves: BYD, Tesla, and Xiaomi launch 7-year loans to fight 2026 sales slump

Geely overtook BYD in passenger vehicle sales, Huawei’s HIMA emerged among top 10 in China, January 2026