Chinese Auto Sales Extended Decline in November

By Jiahui Huang

China's auto sales fell for a second straight month in November as demand continued to weaken.

Retail sales of passenger cars fell 8.1% last month from a year earlier to 2.23 million units, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed Monday. Retail sales of passenger cars fell 1.1% from a month earlier.

Sales figures for November are typically strong, as automakers tend to roll out promotions to boost sales for the final quarter in order to hit their annual targets. However, Chinese auto demand has slowed following rapid sales growth in the first half of the year, the CPCA said.

Sales of electric vehicles didn't grow as much as market participants had expected. Retail sales of new-energy vehicles, a category including battery EVs and plug-in hybrids, rose 4.2% from a year earlier to 1.3 million units in November, the CPCA said.

EV giant Tesla's sales in China rose 9.9% to 86,700 units last month, compared with a decline in October.

Production, exports and wholesales of passenger cars in China all hit fresh highs in November compared with the same month in prior years. Also, the country's car exports for the month was a new record, the CPCA said. Exports of passenger cars jumped 52% from a year earlier to 601,000 units, with shipments of electric vehicles and hybrid cars more than tripling from a year earlier to 284,000 units, CPCA data showed.

For the final month of 2025, the CPCA expects robust sales of new energy vehicles as a tax exemption on EVs and hybrids is set to expire at the end of the year.

Growth in Chinese car exports should also be strong over the near term as automakers accelerate their expansion abroad given stiff competition at home.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2025 05:34 ET (10:34 GMT)