Cui Dongshu: The inventory of passenger cars in the national industry by the end of February 2026 was 3.33 million, a decrease of 240,000 from the previous month.

On March 21, Cui Dongshu stated in a post that by the end of February 2026, the national passenger car industry's inventory was 3.33 million vehicles, a decrease of 240,000 vehicles from the previous month and an increase of 250,000 vehicles from February 2025, forming a good trend of controlled inventory decline. The forecast team of the China Passenger Car Association predicted an optimism of 5% at the beginning of February, but satisfaction after February dropped to 40% at the beginning of March, with lower expectations but improved satisfaction. The team's optimism for the February market rose to 23%, which is still relatively low compared to recent market optimism judgments, with expectations that subsidies in some areas will be further strengthened. Based on the retail forecast for the next N+3 months, the inventory support for the future number of days is calculated. The inventory days are not fixed according to the monthly data, and will vary with forecast adjustments. The actual trend in the fourth quarter of 2025 was lower than expected, with industry inventory days peaking at 79 days, followed by significant production cuts. Therefore, based on the comprehensive estimate of existing inventory support for future sales based on the inventory at the end of February 2026 and future sales, the inventory support for future sales is estimated at 60 days, compared to 62 days in February 2023, 50 days in February 2024, and 64 days in February 2025, indicating a relative improvement in overall inventory pressure for February of this year. Looking at the inventory changes of only electric vehicle manufacturers, with the promotion of anti-homogenization, industry inventory decreased to 620,000 vehicles in September 2025 but rose to 680,000 vehicles by February 2026. This was a decrease of 100,000 vehicles from the peak in November 2025, but an increase of 20,000 vehicles from December. Recent electric vehicle dealers face market retail lower than expected, with overall pressure on industry inventory being significant. These are just some of the insights provided in the comprehensive analysis of the passenger car industry in China.