China’s domestic passenger vehicle market expanded by 11% to 2.26 million units in October 2024 compared with 2.03 million a year earlier, according to retail sales data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The data do not include sales of commercial vehicles.

October marked the second consecutive month of growth for the market and saw the fastest growth since January 2024, driven by a 57% surge in new energy vehicle (NEV) sales—comprising mainly electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles—just under 1.2 million units. NEVs accounted for over 52% of total passenger vehicle sales in the country last month, exceeding the 50% mark for the fourth straight month, driven by generous government subsidies which were increased in August.

Manufacturers and dealers also ramped up their promotions and discounts in October in order to meet their full-year sales targets, with domestic brands such as BYD and Geely experiencing some of the strongest growth.

In the first ten months of the year, the country’s passenger vehicle market expanded by 3% to 17.99 million units - up from 17.27 million units a year earlier, according to the CPCA. NEVs accounted for around 8.4 million of these, or over 47% of the total.