June Auto Sales in China Diverge Sharply: BYD and EV Startups Rise Amid Overall Market Decline

In June 2024, China's auto market showed clear divergence in sales performance. BYD led the market with nearly 400,000 vehicles sold, up 5.46% year-over-year. Among its brands, premium marque Fangchengbao saw sales surge by 188% year-on-year, while Denza grew by 28.9%. In the same month, BYD exported 175,000 vehicles, a 95% year-over-year increase, accounting for 43.7% of its total sales. Among new-energy vehicle startups, Leapmotor reported June sales of 93,000 units, up 95% year-over-year, primarily driven by strong domestic demand for its A10 model. NIO and XPeng each sold approximately 40,000 vehicles, with year-over-year increases of 62.9% and 15.9%, respectively. NIO’s ES9 began ramping up deliveries, while XPeng delivered 6,739 units of its new G6 model. However, the overall auto market remains in a downturn. June’s passenger vehicle retail sales totaled 1.651 million units, down 21% year-over-year, marking the seventh consecutive month of double-digit declines since December 2023. May’s auto retail sales value also fell by 16.1% year-over-year, weighing on overall social consumer retail performance. Faced with shrinking domestic demand and intensifying competition, many automakers are accelerating their overseas expansion and exploring new growth areas such as the automotive aftermarket. Recent policy shifts have also moved toward easing regulations in automotive services to encourage aftermarket consumption.