Domestic Passenger Vehicle Wholesale Sales Drop 22% YoY in Q1 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, domestic passenger vehicle wholesale sales totaled 4.24 million units, down 22% year-on-year. Xu Changming, Senior Economist at the National Information Center, stated at the High-Level Forum on Intelligent and Electric Vehicle Development held on April 12 that consumers holding off purchases in anticipation of better deals were the primary reason for the sales decline. Surveys show that consumers widely expect more favorable pricing and local subsidies for trade-in programs. Traditionally, automakers often stimulated sales through price cuts in the first quarter, but since 2025, regulators have implemented multiple measures to curb destructive price wars. Coupled with mounting profit pressures across the automotive industry, automakers’ room to lower prices has been constrained, leading to an absence of the usual "trading price for volume" strategy in early 2026 and resulting in a sluggish market performance.