EV sales in China drop in January

EV sales in China drop in January

ELECTRIVE — 2026-02-11

Automotive Industry

January is traditionally one of the weakest months of the year in the Chinese automotive market. However, the decline in 2026 is particularly pronounced. Only 643,000 new energy vehicles were registered in China, a 19 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. Exports, on the other hand, have increased significantly.

At the start of the year, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China once again fell significantly below the one-million mark. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) reported a total of 945,000 new NEVs for January 2026—including battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, range-extender models, and fuel cell vehicles. However, CAAM publishes wholesale figures, which cover all NEVs produced in China. This means the numbers also include exports.

In terms of wholesale figures, the market appears almost stable, with only a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent compared to the 944,000 units recorded in January 2025. However, compared to the over 1.7 million NEVs sold in December 2025, there is a decline of 44.7 per cent.

This seemingly stable market performance is primarily driven by exports. Domestic NEV sales, by contrast, dropped to 643,000 vehicles—18.9 per cent below the previous year’s figure and 54.4 per cent lower than December’s result. Since March 2025, domestic NEV sales (excluding wholesale) have consistently exceeded one million units per month. In 2026, however, the Chinese market failed to reach even the 793,000 units sold in the same month the previous year, instead aligning closely with January 2024 levels (629,000 vehicles).

January and February are traditionally the weakest months for automotive sales in China. This is partly due to the multi-day celebrations surrounding the Chinese New Year, during which many citizens travel to their hometowns to spend time with family—resulting in fewer car purchases. Additionally, many customers aim to take advantage of familiar incentive schemes and tax regulations before the end of the year. This year, a revised subsidy policy has further impacted electric vehicle sales: buyers of NEVs are now subject to a five percent purchase tax, whereas previously they were entirely exempt from the standard ten percent tax. Changes to trade-in subsidies have also taken effect since the turn of the year.

These changes, however, only affect sales within China, not exports. Exports doubled to 302,000 vehicles in January—a 100 per cent increase—and even rose slightly by 0.5 per cent compared to the previous record set in December 2025. This marks the third consecutive month with at least 300,000 NEVs exported. However, the export statistics do not provide a breakdown of the specific drivetrain types within the NEV category.

Such details are only available at the wholesale sales level: of the 945,000 NEVs sold in January, 597,000 were battery-electric vehicles (+4.0%), while plug-in hybrids accounted for 348,000 units (-5.9%). With these rounded figures, all 945,000 NEVs are accounted for, suggesting that fuel cell vehicle sales likely remained in the triple-digit range.

Across all drivetrain types, wholesale sales totalled 2.346 million units, 3.2 per cent below the previous year’s figure. The NEV share thus stands at 40.3 per cent, compared to 39.0 per cent in January 2025. However, NEVs have not matched the over 52 per cent share recorded in December. The market’s performance from March onwards will be telling—whether sales rebound or if the new tax and subsidy regulations have a lasting impact on the market.