CPCA: September new energy retail penetration rate climbed to 67.0%, wholesale penetration rate reached 65.4%, both hitting record highs

Zhitong Finance APP has learned that on October 12, the China Passenger Car Association released an analysis of the national passenger car market for September 2026. The September passenger car market showed five distinct characteristics: First, total volume came under deep year-on-year pressure, with month-on-month recovery but limited momentum, and structural divergence was magnified to an extreme. "Accelerating contraction of fuel vehicles and resilient leadership of new energy vehicles" became the market's main theme, as high oil prices continued to accelerate the pace of "oil-to-electric substitution." Second, fuel vehicles contracted across the board, with domestic retail sales of pure fuel passenger vehicles falling by nearly half, while conventional hybrid models were relatively more resilient. Third, new energy penetration continued to reach new highs, with the new energy retail penetration rate climbing to 67.0% in September and the wholesale penetration rate reaching 65.4%, both hitting record highs, though year-on-year growth slowed markedly compared with earlier periods. Fourth, exports surpassing domestic demand became a core focus for some automakers, with exports effectively stabilizing automakers' wholesale volumes and profits. Exports accounted for more than 50% for some automakers, and the number of manufacturers whose exports accounted for 70% of their total volume increased rapidly. Fifth, industry inventories remained persistently low, high oil prices hit fuel vehicles noticeably, and dealers became more cautious in ordering new cars. The vast majority of dealers believed that the peak-season effect of "Golden September and Silver October" was significantly weaker than in previous years, with dealers under great survival pressure and lacking confidence.