China's carmakers sold approximately 27.56 million passenger vehicles in 2024 according to CAAM, including exports; domestic passenger vehicle sales were 25.58 million. That makes China by far the largest passenger car market on earth, more than 1.5x the United States and over 6x India. But the headline volume hides the more dramatic story: a complete reordering of the brand league table and an NEV transition that is the fastest in industrial history.
BYD Overtook Volkswagen, and Kept Going
BYD ended 2024 with roughly 4.25 million passenger NEV sales (BYD investor release), comfortably ahead of every other carmaker selling in China. That is a complete inversion of the league table that held for two decades: as recently as 2019, Volkswagen's China volume was several times BYD's. BYD's best sellers, including the Song, Qin and Seagull families, each sold in the hundreds of thousands.
NEVs Reached Close to 48% of Retail Sales
Battery-electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars combined for 47.97% of 2024 passenger vehicle retail on CPCA's preliminary count, 10.98 million units, up 42% on 2023. PHEVs and extended-range EVs accelerated faster than pure BEVs in 2024 because they avoid range anxiety and qualify for the same incentives. Chinese consumers buy NEVs as mainstream cars, not as statements; price parity has been reached in many popular segments.
Provincial Concentration: Guangdong Leads
Guangdong is the largest provincial market, with Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong also among the biggest. The eastern coastal provinces account for a large share of national volume. They are the engine of consumption and the home of most NEV factories. Inland provinces remain large but slower-growing.
Foreign Brand Retreat
The biggest story behind the BYD ascent is the collapse of foreign joint ventures. Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Chevrolet and PSA have all lost a large part of their China volumes since the late 2010s. Even VW's joint ventures have lost substantial volume since their peak. Only Japanese brands (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) and German premium (BMW, Mercedes, Audi) have held meaningful share, and even they slipped in 2024.
Drill into China's full brand league table on the China dashboard: see year-by-year share shifts, NEV transition speed, and provincial breakdowns from CAAM monthly bulletins.
Sources: CAAM figures via Just Auto and CPCA figures via CnEVPost, 8 January 2025.