# China’s Passenger-Vehicle Exports Rise 64% as Retail Sales Drop

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/30413
Published: 2026-10-12T15:17:22.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-12T15:17:22.000Z
Section: Regulation

> Exports reached 919,000 vehicles in September, while a separate domestic retail-sales measure fell 28% to 1.618 million units.

China recorded 919,000 passenger-vehicle exports in September, up 64.2% from a year earlier, as domestic retail sales weakened and the European Union and China moved toward limits on hybrid exports.

The export total rose 3.2% from August. During the first nine months of 2026, passenger-vehicle exports reached 7.167 million units, an increase of 70.6% from the same period a year earlier.

A separate measure of domestic passenger-vehicle retail sales fell 28% year over year to 1.618 million units in September. The figures are not directly comparable because the export measure tracks shipments while the domestic measure covers retail sales.

Another domestic-sales measure showed passenger-vehicle sales falling 9.5% to 2.588 million units. Total vehicle sales reached 1.823 million new-energy vehicles during the month, up 13.6%, with those vehicles accounting for 61.6% of total vehicle sales.

New-energy vehicle exports rose sharply in September. China exported 571,000 new-energy vehicles, including 556,000 new-energy passenger vehicles; both measures increased 1.6 times from a year earlier.

Including commercial vehicles, total vehicle exports reached 1.053 million units in September, up 61.4%. The nine-month total was 8.205 million, an increase of 65.8%.

The overseas push comes as the European Union and China move toward limits on Chinese hybrid and plug-in-hybrid exports to the bloc. European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič said Oct. 9 that the sides had reached a “shared understanding” to moderate those exports.

Šefčovič said the prospective arrangement could reduce China’s hybrid and plug-in-hybrid exports to the European Union by more than 50% over four years. The plan is to be presented to EU leaders, with detailed procedures to follow endorsement.

The arrangement concerns hybrids and plug-in hybrids, separate from existing European countervailing duties on Chinese battery-electric vehicles.