Car sales in China 2013-2023

In 2023, approximately 26 million passenger cars and four million commercial vehicles had been sold in China. Passenger vehicle sales regained growth in 2021 after three consecutive years of decline.

Vehicles sales

The automobile industry has been a major driving force in China’s economic momentum and, despite slowing growth, expected to continue fueling the economy. China was the world’s leading car producing country in 2023, producing approximately 26 million passenger cars and claiming a third of total global vehicle production. However, while passenger car sales in China have been skyrocketing since 2008, they have slowed somewhat since 2017.

Type of vehicles

During the slowdown in the vehicle sales in China, the sale of minivans, multipurpose vehicles (MPV) and sedans have slowed, but the number of SUVs sold has increased in the same year, although all sales for passenger cars started decreasing since 2017. While the gas guzzling SUV is the most popular type of passenger car in China, the production of new energy vehicles is also on the rise since the government has been promoting their use. The export value of electric passenger vehicles from China surged in recent years.