- The 2025 Spring Festival holiday ran from January 28 to February 4, while this year’s holiday period falls from February 15 to 23.
- Year-to-date cumulative retail sales of NEVs in China totaled 715,000 units, down 14% year-on-year.
China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales in the first week of February showed robust year-on-year growth, primarily due to the low base caused by the Spring Festival holiday last year.
From February 1-8, China’s passenger NEV retail sales reached 119,000 units, up 42% year-on-year and up 41% month-on-month, according to data released Wednesday by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The 2025 Spring Festival was on January 29, with the statutory holiday period running from January 28 to February 4. This year’s Spring Festival falls on February 17, with the holiday spanning February 15-23.
The Spring Festival holiday typically has a significant impact on industrial production, as Chinese residents generally take time off to reunite with family.
The robust month-on-month growth also stems from the low base at the end of last month. Entering 2026, Chinese consumers began facing additional NEV purchase tax costs and the phase-out of trade-in subsidies, leading to sluggish vehicle sales in early January.
Year-to-date, China’s passenger NEV cumulative retail sales were 715,000 units, down 14% year-on-year.
China’s passenger NEV wholesale sales from February 1-8 totaled 125,000 units, up 39% year-on-year and up 3% month-on-month.
Year-to-date, China’s passenger NEV cumulative wholesale sales were 989,000 units, up 1% year-on-year.
From February 1-8, China’s total passenger vehicle retail sales reached 328,000 units, up 54% year-on-year and up 37% month-on-month.
Year-to-date, China’s cumulative retail sales of all passenger vehicles came in at 1.872 million units, down 7% year-on-year.
This indicates that China’s NEV retail penetration rate stood at 36.4% during February 1-8 and 38.19% year-to-date.
During the first week of February, February 1-8, China’s average daily retail sales of passenger vehicles were 40,953 units.
From February 1-8, China’s wholesale sales of all passenger vehicles totaled 284,000 units, a 46% increase year-on-year and a 3% increase compared to the same period last month.
During February 1-8, China’s average daily wholesale sales of passenger vehicles were 35,528 units.
Year-to-date wholesale sales of passenger vehicles in China were 2.257 million units, down 2% compared to the same period last year.
Domestic NEV sales in China fell 18.9% year-on-year in January, while NEV exports doubled to a record high.
