Electric cars keep dominating China's auto market, first pure petrol model ranks 14th
In August, nine of the top ten best-selling passenger cars in China were fully electric, while the first internal-combustion model landed only in 13th place. Geely EX2 remained the market leader.
China's passenger car market saw electric vehicles extend their dominance in August, with nine of the ten best-selling models being fully electric. The sole exception was the BYD Fang Cheng Bao Ti7, which is offered both as a battery electric vehicle and as a plug-in hybrid.
No model with a purely internal-combustion engine made it into the top ten this time — only the second such occurrence this year. The first conventional petrol car on the list was the Toyota Corolla Cross, which sold 14,675 units and ranked 13th.
Geely and Leapmotor lead the way
The best-selling model in August was the Geely EX2, with 39,651 units sold, followed by the Leapmotor A10 with 30,652 units and the Tesla Model Y with 29,260 units. The Tesla Model 3 came in sixth with 20,787 units sold.
Xiaomi's models notably lost ground — the SU7 slipped from fourth place in July to tenth, while the newer YU7 ranked 19th. Long-time traditional bestsellers also weakened, with the Volkswagen Lavida falling to 15th place and the Nissan Sylphy dropping to 23rd.
Overall, SUVs remain far more popular than sedans in China — of the 20 best-selling models, only five had internal-combustion engines, with the rest being electric or hybrid SUVs.
Geely tops the year-to-date ranking
Looking at the January-to-August period, the year's sales leader remains the Geely EX2 with 266,166 units sold, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 226,931 units and the Li Auto i6 with 152,845 units.
Notably, both the Geely EX2 and the Leapmotor A10 have begun sales in the European market this year, though at significantly higher prices than in China, where these models start at roughly €8,300 and €8,400 respectively.
