Cui Dongshu: China accounts for 32% of the world's automobile share from January to August 2026
The Zhitong Finance App learned that Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the Passenger Transport Association, published an article stating that according to World Automobile Organization statistics, global automobile production continues to grow, reaching 96.38 million units in 2025, an increase of 6% over 91.77 million units in 2024, and China accounts for 35.4% of the world's production share. Global automobile sales continue to grow, reaching 96.89 million units in 2025, an increase of 6%, and China accounts for 35.4% of world sales. From January to August 2026, the world's automobile sales volume was 63.43 million units, up 2% year on year; of these, the monthly sales volume in August was 7.719 million units, up only 1% year on year, down 4.9% month on month, and the growth momentum of the global car market was weak.
From January to August 2026, the cumulative global automobile sales volume was 63.43 million units. By country, China sold 20.31 million units, with a share of 32.0%, down significantly from 35.4% in 2025; the US sold 10.94 million units, with a share of 17.2%, a slight decline; India performed well, increasing its share to 6.7%, becoming a highlight of growth. Judging from changes in share over the years, China's share of the world continued to rise from 2022 to 2025, reaching a phased high in 2025. The overall share of major European countries has been declining steadily, while the share of emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia has remained stable. The decline in sales volume in the Chinese market in the first 8 months of 2026 is the core reason for changes in global share. The rapid growth of emerging markets such as India has to some extent hedged the growth pressure of the Chinese and US markets and supported the global car market to maintain a slight positive growth. Global automobile sales increased by 2% from January to August 2026, with sales in the Indian automobile market increasing by 20%, the Thai car market by 16%, the Russian market by 6%, and Vietnam by 28%. Emerging markets drive better market performance.
From east to west, with the exception of Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Suzuki, and Tata, the share of other international brands declined sharply in 2026. Compared to 2019, China's own brands have increased their overall share of the world. Geely (00175), BYD (01211), Chery, SAIC, Changan, etc. performed well independently. The development of electrification has also led to the gradual decline of some international car companies. In addition to favorable factors in the Indian market such as Suzuki, the shares of other European and American international brands have declined significantly across the board.
1. World car sales trend in the current month
Since 2025, the overall growth of the world car market has been good, and each month has been better than the same period. The world car market fluctuated greatly in 2026. Since the 2026 Chinese New Year was in February, and sales in the Chinese car market were stable before the Chinese Spring Festival, the world grew relatively well in January, but sales in the Chinese car market declined sharply in February due to Spring Festival factors. The trend improved markedly in March-July, and declined significantly in August.
From January to August 2026, the world's automobile sales volume was 63.43 million units, up 2% year on year; of these, the monthly sales volume in August was 7.719 million units, up only 1% year on year, down 4.9% month on month, and the growth momentum of the global car market was weak. Global automobile sales in 2025 were 96.89 million units, up 6% year on year, which is a good level in recent years. Compared with data from previous years, the global car market achieved a high recovery rate of 11% in 2023, fell back to 3% in 2024, rebounded to 6% in 2025, and growth slowed markedly in 2026. It was mainly dragged down by the sales pressure of the two major car markets in China and the US at the beginning of the year. Sales in the first quarter of 2026 were 22.89 million units, and the second quarter was 24.71 million units. The second quarter's performance was superior to that of the first quarter, but the month-on-month decline in August. Market performance in the fourth quarter will determine whether the growth rate can maintain positive growth throughout the year.
2. World automobile sales trends over the years
World car sales in the table above are mainly sales in 70 countries. These 70 core countries had around 90 million units in 2019, which can also basically track monthly sales. World data has been slow in recent months due to frequent wars.
There are 100 other countries that can only track annual sales. In recent years, the total sales volume is about 3 million units. Compared with 70 major countries with 80 million units, these smaller countries have a total volume of about 3%, which has little impact.
Looking at the world sales volume represented by major countries, the downward cycle began after 2018 and bottomed out in 2020; it began to pick up in 2021; the 2% world sales growth rate in 2026 performed well. Among them, the 4% decline in the Chinese car market had a big impact. The overall performance of the Chinese auto market this year fell short of expectations, and the growth pressure on the world car market is also increasing.
3. China maintains leading position in sales volume in 2026
The Chinese automobile market has an enormous influence on the world automobile market. In 2016-2018, Chinese automobiles accounted for about 30% of the world; in 2019, it fell to 29%, but still has an absolute advantage; in 2020-2021, China's share rebounded to 32%; in 2022, China's share rose to 33.5%; in 2023, China's share remained at 33.8%; in 2024, China reached 34.2% of the world's automobile share; in 2025, China reached 35.4% of the world's automobile share.
From January to August 2026, the cumulative global automobile sales volume was 63.43 million units, up 2% year on year; of these, sales volume in the Chinese market was 20.31 million units, down 4% year on year, and China's share of global sales fell back to 32.0%, dragging down the global market growth. Looking at the subregions, there were 13.35 million units in North America, 11.38 million units in Europe, 13.74 million units in the rest of Asia, and 4.66 million units in the southern hemisphere in the first 8 months of 2026. Looking back over the years, global sales have continued to recover since the trough of the epidemic in 2020. The growth rate was 11% in 2023, global sales volume was 96.89 million units in 2025, a growth rate of 6%, and the Chinese market grew 9% that year, reaching a high of 35.4%. Negative growth in China's auto market in 2026 is a core factor in the global slowdown. Overseas markets maintained positive growth to hedge against pressure on some domestic markets.
4. Developing country markets have strengthened significantly
From January to August 2026, the cumulative global automobile sales volume was 63.43 million units. By country, China sold 20.31 million units, with a share of 32.0%, down significantly from 35.4% in 2025; the US sold 10.94 million units, with a share of 17.2%, a slight decline; India performed well, increasing its share to 6.7%, becoming a highlight of growth. Judging from changes in share over the years, China's share of the world continued to rise from 2022 to 2025, reaching a phased high in 2025. The overall share of major European countries has been declining steadily, while the share of emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia has remained stable. The decline in sales volume in the Chinese market in the first 8 months of 2026 is the core reason for changes in global share. The rapid growth of emerging markets such as India has to some extent hedged the growth pressure of the Chinese and US markets and supported the global car market to maintain a slight positive growth.
The overall trend of China's auto market has been good in recent years, and its share has continued to rise. Since 2020, China's share in the world has continued to rise, reaching 33.8% by 2023, reaching 34.2% in 2024, 35.4% of the world in 2025, and 32% of the world in 2026, down 3.4 percentage points from 2025.
5. Market trends in countries around the world
Global automobile sales increased by 2% from January to August 2026. Among them, Chinese car sales fell 4%, US sales fell 3%, Indian car market sales increased 20%, Thai car market increased 16%, Russian market sales increased 6%, and Vietnam increased 28%. Emerging markets drive better market performance.
6. Trends in China's global market share
Recently, the world share of Chinese cars has gradually stabilized in the 34%-36% range. At the beginning of 2026, with the gradual launch of the two new subsidy policies in progress, China's automobile sales declined significantly in January-February. The share rebounded in March, the share rebounded to 35% in August, and the cumulative share was 32% in 2026.
7. Characteristics of monthly automobile sales trends in various countries
Judging from the monthly sales growth trend in countries around the world, the trend between months is basically balanced. However, due to many influences such as seasonal factors and yearly factors, there is still a big contrast between the trends of various countries.
Since the Chinese car market is still popular for private cars, the trend is relatively strong at the beginning and end of the year, and the trend is relatively weak in the middle of the year, while the Indian car market is relatively strong at the beginning of the year and relatively stable in the middle of the year.
8. World share performance of international groups
This chart shows the global sales share trends of major automobile groups. Judging from the Group's overall performance at present, the share of leading international car companies has declined markedly, and Chinese car companies have generally performed well. As India, Brazil, and Russia's position in the international car market has improved, and Asian car companies such as Geely, Chery, and Suzuki have performed well in the market, the production and sales trend of East Asian car companies is relatively good. European car companies generally performed poorly.
From January to August of this year, 3 Chinese car companies had a strong share of the world's top 10 car companies, and BYD climbed back to 5th place in the world. Geely ranked 7th and Chery ranked 9th.
9. Regional share performance of international groups
Rising east and falling west, this year, compared with China's own brands in 2019, the overall share of the world increased. Geely, BYD, Chery, SAIC, Changan, and Great Wall performed well independently.
With the exception of Toyota, Hyundai Kia, Suzuki, and Tata, the share of other international brands declined sharply in 2026.
Asian car companies are strong. The Toyota Group's performance in 2026 was relatively strong, down 0.6% from 2019, and the world share remained around 11% in 2026. This is also due to Toyota's overall strong performance in the European and North American markets. The trend of Hyundai Motors in Korea is relatively stable, reaching 7.5% in 2026, down 0.1% from 2019. Korea Hyundai Group has performed well in North America and other Asian markets, but the trend continues to be weak in China due to poor product strength. Suzuki's market performance is strong, mainly in markets such as India and Japan. The Honda Group also had poor performance this year, down 2.5% from 2019, and the performance of the Chinese market was weak.
European car companies were generally weak in 2026. In particular, the performance of Renault Nissan, Stellantis, and Volkswagen was relatively weak. Their share dropped by about 3 points compared to 2019, which is a loss of nearly 3 million units. These European companies are under a lot of pressure on the Chinese market. The Chinese market cannot retreat; they need to start a second time. Successful electrification transformation has led to overall growth for second-tier Chinese car companies.