China’s passenger car exports rose 68.5% year-on-year to 928,000 vehicles in October, with new energy vehicles (NEVs) making up 62.8% of the total, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The figure, which includes complete vehicles and kits for local assembly (CKD), was up 1.0% from September, the CPCA said in its monthly market analysis published on November 9.
Exports made up 35% of carmakers’ passenger vehicle sales in October, compared with 36% in September and 19% a year earlier.
Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the CPCA, wrote that the shipments had a clear “mid- and low-priced mainstream model” profile, which directly helped mainstream Chinese brands stand out, as domestic retail sales fell 27.1% to 1.643 million.
NEVs Lead the Increase
NEV exports, a category covering battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and range-extended (EREV) cars, rose 144.7% year-on-year and 3.9% from September to 582,000 units, CPCA data shows.
Battery-electric cars made up 61.7% of NEV exports, compared with 62.6% a year earlier, while plug-in hybrids accounted for 33.7% and range-extended models for 4.6%, up from 34.7% and 2.7%.
Applied to the 582,000 total, those shares imply about 359,000 BEVs, 196,000 PHEVs and 27,000 EREVs.
Exports of internal combustion-engine cars rose 11% year-on-year to 346,000 units but fell 4% sequentially.
Combustion-engine exports equaled 40% of carmakers’ combustion-engine wholesale volumes, compared with 24% a year earlier, while NEV exports made up 33% of NEV wholesale volumes, up from 15%.
From January through October, China exported 4.472 million passenger NEVs, up 139.7%, according to the CPCA.
Small Electric Cars Gain Share
A00 and A0 battery-electric models, China’s minicar and small-car segments, made up 56.4% of BEV exports in October, up from 42.1% a year earlier, according to the CPCA.
Chinese brands exported 810,000 vehicles, up 77%, or 87.3% of the total, while joint-venture and luxury brands exported 118,000, up 28%.
The CPCA said exports of plug-in hybrids by Chinese brands to developing countries are growing rapidly despite “some interference” from foreign countries.
Which Models Are Being Shipped
The CPCA did not publish export figures by model in its October analysis, and the most detailed figures in it are broken down by manufacturer.
Model-level export rankings based on CPCA data appeared on November 13 last year, when Chinese outlet D1EV (第一电动网) listed BYD’s Song Plus first with 21,894 exports in October 2025, followed by Tesla’s Model Y with 19,074 and Model 3 with 16,417.
For Tesla, model-level exports can be calculated because all of its China-built cars come from Shanghai and its domestic and export figures are both published.
Tesla wholesaled 38,567 Model Ys and 29,262 Model 3s in October, according to the CPCA’s wholesale ranking, while Dongchedi’s retail ranking put China sales at 7,807 and 1,010, respectively, Chinese media reported.
That leaves 30,760 Model Y exports and 28,252 Model 3 exports, which add up to the 59,012 total the CPCA reported for Tesla China.
On that basis, Model Y exports rose 61.3% from a year earlier and Model 3 exports rose 72.1%.
The CPCA’s list of 25 models with October wholesale volumes above 20,000, which combines domestic and export shipments, was led by BYD‘s Song at 74,365, Geely‘s Xingyuan at 71,337 and BYD’s Yuan Up at 69,216.
The list also included the MG4 EV at 35,876, Chery‘s Tiggo 7 at 30,239, Chery’s Jaecoo J5 at 26,689 and the MG ZS at 23,574, though the CPCA did not break out exports for any of them.
BYD Leads NEV Exports
In NEV exports, BYD led with 165,194 vehicles, a 28.4% share, ahead of Chery with 83,843 and Geely with 80,119, according to the CPCA’s monthly analysis.
The three accounted for 56.6% of China’s NEV exports, based on CPCA data.
Tesla China ranked fourth with a 10.1% share, followed by SAIC Passenger Vehicle with 42,030, Changan with 30,343 and Leapmotor with 21,132.
SAIC-GM-Wuling, XPeng and GAC Aion followed with 16,866, 13,326 and 12,150, respectively, with Great Wall Motor at 12,029.
A year earlier, BYD exported 80,108 NEVs, Chery 40,816, Tesla China 35,491 and Geely 13,626, according to the CPCA’s October 2025 analysis. Geely’s NEV exports have risen nearly sixfold since then.
Geely said in its own release that its October exports rose 158% to 107,153, with NEVs making up 77%, or a record 82,565 units, up 506%.
In the NEV section of its report, the CPCA also said CKD kits made up 41.9% of SAIC-GM-Wuling’s exports, 31.1% of Great Wall’s, 27.6% of SAIC Passenger Vehicle’s and 8.0% of Leapmotor’s.
Tesla’s Shanghai Shift
Tesla’s exports rose 66.3% year-on-year and 93.3% from September, taking 87% of its Shanghai wholesale volume of 67,829.
That left 8,817 vehicles for the Chinese market, Tesla’s lowest monthly total there since July 2022.
The CPCA’s preliminary NEV wholesale release on November 3 listed only Tesla’s combined total, and the export split followed on November 9.
Outlook
The CPCA expects exports to cool gradually in November, saying shipments for pre-Christmas demand abroad needed to leave early and were concentrated before mid-month.
“The expected cut in export tax rebates and the tightening of overseas tariff windows are combining as incentives, and some orders are being delivered early,” the CPCA said. It said this was boosting short-term export data while “drawing down export momentum for the first quarter of next year.”
It added that the support from exports should not be extrapolated in a straight line as a trend of lasting strength.
China’s Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration said on October 12 that the value-added tax rebate on NEV exports will fall to 9% from 13% from April 1, 2027.
Chinese customs data for September, cited by the CPCA, showed total vehicle exports of 1.18 million, up 55%, and 8.63 million in the first nine months, up 52%. Russia, Brazil and the United Kingdom were the three largest markets over that period, while Brazil, Belgium and the United Kingdom led for NEVs.
