Chinese market: Electric vehicles double those powered by internal combustion engines and make it into the Top Ten

The Chinese automotive market is becoming increasingly focused on electric vehicles. In August, retail sales of cars with internal combustion engines dropped by 40% year-on-year, while BEVs continued to show strong growth. This trend is even more evident in the model rankings: nine of the top ten best-selling cars in China are 100% electric.

BEVs dominate the market, while internal combustion engines decline

According to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), 1.54 million passenger cars were sold in China in August.

NEV vehicles – which include pure electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and to a lesser extent hydrogen vehicles – have reached 1.005 million units, accounting for 65.2% of total sales. In contrast, internal combustion engine cars have settled at around 536,000 units, nearly half of NEVs and showing a significant decline compared to last year (894,000 units were sold in August 2025).

Their market share in China has now dropped to 34.8%.

This decline isn’t limited to just the August figures. From January to August, NEV sales grew exponentially to reach 6.7 million units, compared to around 5 million for conventional cars.

The most interesting trend relates to the composition of electric vehicle sales, which are driven almost entirely by pure electric cars. Even in August, BEVs dominated the market (+1.7% year-on-year and +7.9% compared to July), more than doubling the sales of their plug-in hybrid counterparts (PHEVs), which, on the other hand, saw declines for the eighth consecutive month.

Electric vehicles also continue to find strong support through exports, which increased by 154.7% on a year-on-year basis.

China begins gradual reduction of EV incentives

The Top-10 list features only electric cars

The significance of this data becomes even clearer when looking at the top-10 list of individual models. In August, nine out of the ten best-selling cars in China were battery-electric vehicles. The only exception was the BYD Fang Cheng Bao Ti7, a PHEV hybrid that is also available in a BEV version.

At the top of the rankings was the Geely EX2 (39,651 units), followed by the Leapmotor A10 and the Tesla Model Y. To illustrate the diversity of today’s Chinese electric vehicle market, Tesla was the only manufacturer with two models in the top-10 (the Model 3 in 6th place).

It is important to note that there are no purely internal combustion engine cars in this list. The highest-ranked gasoline vehicle is the Toyota Corolla, in 13th place with 14,675 units sold. This is the second time this year that gasoline cars have missed the top ten positions in a monthly ranking.

A comparison with Europe is inevitable

These figures represent an important indicator, especially since the transformation does not seem to be limited to the simple growth of “new energy” vehicles. Within this segment, it is clear that BEVs show greater resilience, while PHEVs are falling behind.

For the European industry, the message is not that China has already found a universal formula for transition. The Chinese market cannot be simply replicated in Europe, but these figures raise an unavoidable question: How quickly can the continental market also change once electric vehicles become competitive not only in terms of environmental impact but also in price, product quality, and operating costs?

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