China's 2025 4S Shop Shakeout: EV Expansion Drives Over 5,000 Fuel-Powered Dealerships Offline

In 2025, China's automotive 4S dealership network underwent significant restructuring. According to a report by the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), approximately 5,000 4S stores were closed, merged, or restructured nationwide, with 76% belonging to domestic brands, and joint-venture and luxury brands accounting for 15% and 9%, respectively. Meanwhile, among the roughly 5,000 newly opened stores, 56% were from new energy vehicle (NEV) brands, and domestic brands contributed 88% of all new additions. By the end of the year, the total number of passenger vehicle 4S dealerships across China stood at 32,432, a slight year-on-year decline of 1.4%. Traditional fuel-powered vehicle sales channels continued to shrink, with the number of joint-venture and luxury brand outlets decreasing by 5.7% and 5.8%, respectively. In contrast, domestic-brand dealerships increased to 21,371, raising their share of the total to 66%. Mounting operational pressures led to 81.9% of dealers experiencing price inversions (selling below invoice cost), over half reporting losses exceeding 15%, and more than half failing to meet their sales targets—domestic brands fared worst due to overly aggressive targets. Dealer satisfaction with automakers plummeted to a record low of 60.8 points.