The BYD dealership in China. Credit: Yangquan feizhou Laoqian Understand China EV’s Market Real-time notifications when critical EV data is released All important data in one place 2,000,000+ data points Become a member Electric cars occupied 62.9% of the retail sales market share in China in May 2025, despite the phasing out of subsidies. The new high was reached due to a sharp decline in ICE sales, which resulted in new energy cars occupying the top 10 bestselling models. According to the data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), 1.51 million cars were sold in China in May 2026. It is a 22.1% decrease Year-Over-Year and a 9.2% increase Month-On-Month. The total retail sales from January to May reached 7.099 million units, down 19.5% Y-O-Y. However, the May decrease was driven mostly by ICE cars. Their market share fell sharply to 37.1% with around 560,000 units sold, accounting for 82% of the Y-O-Y decrease. According to The 21st Century Economic, the ICE-to-EV transition was accelerated by fluctuations in oil prices. As a result, the EV retail penetration rate reached 62.9%. These statistics include battery electric cars (BEVs), plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and range extenders (EREVs). Volkswagen ID. Era 9X. Credit: Volkswagen Nio ES8. Credit: Nio The Zeekr 9X crossover. Credit: Zeekr Despite the overall domestic sales decline, the high-end EV market remains strong. For example, the Volkswagen ID. Era 9X deliveries reached 5,004 units. Nio delivered 11,472 units of the ES8. And the Geely-owned Zeekr handed over 9,058 units of the 9X crossover to owners. Electric cars turned into a core growth driver for joint ventures between global companies and Chinese automakers (like SAIC-Volkswagen, GAC-Toyota, or BMW-Brilliance). CPCA data shows that sales of the EVs from joint ventures increased by 51% Y-O-Y, while sales of gasoline-powered vehicles decreased by 41%. While the domestic car market is under pressure, exports have become the new priority for Chinese automakers. CPCA data shows that the export volume of new energy vehicles accounted for 54%, which is a record high. For clarity, BYD set a record for overseas sales in May with 160,644 units, according to China EV DataTracker. It is 42% of its total sales of 382,476 cars. Chery went even further by selling 181,871 units outside China. It accounts for 73.39% of total sales.