China Automobile Dealers Association: The automobile consumption index in July was 76.5, a slight increase from the previous month

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on August 3, the China Automobile Dealers Association released the latest “Automobile Consumption Index”: the automobile consumption index for July 2026 was 76.5, a slight increase from the previous month. It is expected that the automobile market will continue to operate weakly in the off-season in August, and sales will increase compared to July.

Affected by weather such as high temperatures, extreme heat, and heavy rain, July and August have been traditional low sales seasons in the automobile market over the years. However, August will usher in an exclusive summer consumption period. Demand for car purchases during the graduation season, front-end car use during the school season, and summer self-driving trips will be released centrally, becoming the core support for the off-season; in addition, August is the prelude to the “Golden Nine Silver Ten” peak season, and dealers will also speed up the pace of sales. Overall, sales in the car market in August will be better than in July.

Automobile consumption index trend chart

Demand score index: Looking at the sub-indices that make up the automobile consumption index, the demand score index for July 2026 was 76.2, up from the previous month. Demand for new car purchases in the market gradually picked up in August. The core was supported by summer demand: the college graduation season and the primary and secondary school opening season formed a dual demand for car purchases, which made up for the traditional off-season demand gap to a certain extent.

Automobile Consumption Index - Demand Score Index

Store entry score index: The store entry score index for July 2026 was 75.0, up from the previous month. The hot weather will gradually ease in late August, which will help consumers visit stores to see cars; dealers will also begin to speed up the pace of sales in order to complete the tasks of the third quarter. Combined with activities such as the 818 Car Shopping Festival, they will all attract consumers to the store to a certain extent.

Automobile Consumption Index - Store Entry Index Trend Chart

Purchase points index: The purchase points index for July 2026 was 79.3, up from the previous month. Demand for summer car purchases is highly time-efficient. Consumers see a shorter car purchase cycle and increase their willingness to make transactions, which has led to improvements in terminal conversion efficiency.

Automobile Consumption Index - Purchase Score Index Trend Chart

Judging from the consumer environment and consumers' desire to buy cars: In early August, many parts of the country will still maintain high heat in midsummer, and the hot weather will gradually ease in late August, reducing consumers' resistance to offline car viewing and test driving to a certain extent, helping to pick up the flow of visitors to the store; in August, dealers took the initiative to speed up the pace of sales in order to sprint to the third quarter; combined with large-scale marketing nodes such as the 818 Car Shopping Festival, driving market popularity and a recovery in consumer desire to buy cars; the timeliness of car buying demand during the graduation season and school season will weaken to a certain extent. Willing to improve.

In summary, the automobile market showed the characteristics of off-season recovery and weak to positive seasonal operation in August. The concentrated release of demand for summer car purchases and the easing of consumer wait-and-see sentiment have become the core driving force for recovery. Overall, demand in the automobile market, offline passenger flow, and terminal transactions are expected to improve simultaneously in August. Sales volume will increase month-on-month compared to July, warming up the momentum for the subsequent “Golden Nine, Silver Ten” traditional peak sales season, and pushing the car market to gradually break out of the low season.