China Passenger Car Association: In early 2026, the national passenger car retail market showed a special trend of shrinking low-end consumption and increasing differentiation growth under the upgrading of passive consumption.

The China Automobile Association stated in a document that the structural decline of the domestic automobile market is different from the launch of regional consumption policies, reshaping the development pattern of the domestic passenger car regional market. In the environment of policy adjustments driving domestic demand for passenger cars and high oil prices, the national passenger car retail market at the beginning of 2026 presents a special trend of differentiation growth with shrinking low-end consumption and passive consumption upgrades. The operation of car markets in various regions shows four core characteristics: firstly, the subsidy policy has a significant effect on driving high-end consumption, the economy car market continues to be sluggish, the sedan market shows significant contraction, and the regions with the greatest consumption potential in the central and western regions have the largest overall decline; secondly, the regional consumption growth under high oil prices is becoming more differentiated, with considerable growth potential in northern regions but relatively weak market performance in the current period, while the markets in East and South China show significant improvement; thirdly, hybrid electric vehicles have become the main driver of growth in some regional markets, while the trend of plug-in hybrid vehicles is significantly weak; fourthly, in 2026, high-end models and large space three-row seat models have relatively strong performance, with the market for large SUVs in provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong showing particularly strong growth.