Retail sales of passenger vehicles in China, including sedans, MPVs and SUVs, rose by almost 15% to 1.78 million units in April 2025 from 1.55 million units a year earlier, according to data compiled by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

This was the third consecutive month of growth for the market, with consumers responding to increased government incentives and strong price competition particularly among domestic manufacturers. Compared with the strong data in March, the market was down by 8% however.

In the first four months of 2025 passenger vehicle sales in the country rose by 8% to 6.97 million units from 6.45 million in the same period last year, driven by higher demand for sedans and SUVs, while MPV sales were slightly weaker.

Industry data show that as of the end of April, around three million vehicle purchases had been made using the government’s trade-in/scrappage programme since it was first launched almost a year ago, which offers higher benefits for purchases of NEVs compared with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), comprising mainly battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), increased by 34% year-on-year to 905,000 units last month according to the CPCA, resulting in a 36% increase to 3.324 million units year-to-date.