A ro-ro vessel loads electric vehicles for export at a berth of Lianyungang Port’s Dongfang Port Branch in Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu Province, on May 15, 2026. (Photo: VCG)
China’s new-energy passenger vehicle wholesale sales are estimated to have reached 1.51 million units in June, up 22 percent year-on-year and 12 percent month-on-month, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Thursday, contributing the growth to high oil prices, optimized supply and export surge.
According to the CPCA, the growth of the new-energy vehicles (NEVs) significantly outperformed the overall passenger vehicle market during the same period, making NEVs the core engine of the passenger car market.
BYD topped the new-energy passenger vehicle wholesale sales with 397,292 units, and Tesla China ranked fourth, with sales standing at 89,091 units, data from the CPCA showed.
The car association noted that due to disruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, domestic refined oil retail prices have remained at elevated levels, significantly increasing costs for fuel vehicles and directly suppressing consumer demand. In this context, end-user demand has accelerated its shift toward NEVs, providing strong and sustained support for NEV sales.
In addition, mainstream automakers have proactively accelerated the transition from fuel vehicles to NEVs, driving June wholesale sales to register a month-on-month increase of over 10 percent, with a notably faster supply-side response, it said.
Meanwhile, sustained high international oil prices have significantly boosted overseas consumer demand for NEVs for their low-energy-consumption and high cost-performance. Leveraging mature electrification technologies and outstanding cost advantages, Chinese domestic NEV brands have created a strong substitution effect against fuel vehicles in overseas markets. This has led to steady expansion in export volumes, which in turn further supports domestic production and sales, the CPCA noted.
Benefiting from the accelerated electrification transformation by leading automakers and a favorable consumption environment, multiple mainstream car companies achieved record-high NEV wholesale sales for June.
Brands including BYD, Geely, Chery, NIO, XPeng and Beijing Hyundai all set new best records for NEV wholesale sales in June. These companies span domestic independent brands, joint ventures, and new EV startups, indicating that the electrification transformation has evolved from a strategy led by a few pioneers into a full-industry consensus, the CPCA said.