The October auto market has entered the traditional 'Silver October' peak sales season. Driven by the combined effects of customer accumulation during the National Day holiday and anticipation of year-end policy adjustments, consumer demand continued to surge in early October. As local 'trade-in' subsidy policies undergo adjustments and post-holiday market enthusiasm naturally subsides, the CPCA projects October's narrowly defined passenger car retail market to reach approximately 2.2 million units, a 2.0% month-on-month decline. NEV retail sales are expected to hit 1.32 million units, with the penetration rate potentially rising to around 60%, marking a new historical high.

Among domestic automakers (BYD, Geely, Chery, Changan, GWM), only BYD experienced a month-on-month decline, while the other four reported varying degrees of growth. In terms of scale, BYD maintained its top position with over 440,000 units sold; Geely surpassed Chery with over 300,000 units, ranking second; Chery and Changan followed with over 200,000 units each, ranking third and fourth; GWM's sales grew to 140,000 units but still lagged significantly behind the top four.

BYD remains firmly in first place. In October, BYD sold 441,706 units, down 12% year-on-year but up 11.47% month-on-month, marking a new annual sales high. However, the 12% year-on-year decline marks BYD's second consecutive month of negative growth. Last October, BYD sold 500,000 units in a single month. Despite maintaining its top position in scale, BYD's sales growth has significantly slowed or declined. From January to October, BYD's cumulative sales reached 3,701,852 units. If BYD maintains sales around 450,000 units in the next two months, its annual sales will reach 4.5 million units.

Geely, ranking second, broke through the 300,000-unit mark in October with 307,133 units sold, up 35% year-on-year and 12.45% month-on-month. The main driver of Geely's sales growth was its Galaxy brand, which sold 127,476 units in October, up 101% year-on-year. Additionally, the Lynk & Co brand sold 40,213 units, up 29% year-on-year. However, the Zeekr brand continued to decline in October with 21,423 units sold, down 14% year-on-year. With the launch of models like the 9X, new 001, and new 7X, Zeekr's sales may grow in November. From January to October, Geely's cumulative sales reached 2,477,322 units.

Chery follows closely behind Geely, ranking third. In October, Chery sold 281,161 units, up 3.3% year-on-year and 0.25% month-on-month. Compared to previous year-on-year growth rates, Chery's sales growth slowed last month. By brand, Chery sold 169,696 units; Exeed sold 9,494 units; Jetour sold 59,073 units; iCAR sold 12,393 units; and Smart sold 12,810 units. From January to October, Chery's cumulative sales reached 2,288,929 units, up 13% year-on-year, marking its best-ever performance for the same period.

Changan continues to rank fourth. In October, Changan sold 236,888 units, up 11.3% year-on-year and 4.88% month-on-month. The growth in Changan's sales was mainly driven by its three new energy brands: Shenlan, Avatr, and Changan Qiyuan. Among them, Shenlan sold 36,792 units in October; Qiyuan sold 36,378 units; and Avatr sold 13,506 units. These three brands accounted for over 36% of Changan's sales. From January to October, Changan's cumulative sales reached 2,016,793 units.

In October, GWM sold 143,078 units, up 22.5% year-on-year and 7.06% month-on-month, marking its best-ever October performance and a gradual improvement in overall performance. All five of its brands—Haval, WEY, ORA, Tank, and GWM Pickup—achieved positive sales growth in October. Haval sold 88,235 new vehicles, up 21.41% year-on-year; WEY sold 12,699 new vehicles, up 95.79% year-on-year. Meanwhile, GWM sold 40,203 vehicles priced over 200,000 yuan in October, up 32.50% year-on-year, accounting for 28% of total sales. From January to October, GWM's cumulative sales reached 1,066,436 units, up 9.87% year-on-year.

In the new energy sector, Geely, Changan, Chery, and GWM are all accelerating their pursuit of BYD. Among them, Geely's growth is the most rapid. In October, Geely sold 177,882 new energy vehicles, up 64% year-on-year and 8% month-on-month, marking a new historical high with a monthly NEV penetration rate of 58%. From January to October, Geely's cumulative NEV sales reached 1,345,705 units, up 106% year-on-year. Among them, Geely Galaxy sold 1.002 million units year-to-date, up 187% year-on-year, achieving its annual sales target of 1 million units ahead of schedule and becoming the fastest NEV brand to reach this milestone.

Changan (including joint ventures) sold 119,167 new energy vehicles in October, up 36.14% year-on-year and 15.05% month-on-month. From January to October, Changan's cumulative NEV sales reached 868,724 units. Following closely is Chery. In October, Chery sold 110,346 new energy vehicles, up 54.7% year-on-year, surpassing 110,000 units in a single month for the first time with a monthly NEV penetration rate exceeding 39%. Chery's dual breakthrough in NEV sales and growth is mainly attributed to its popular NEV product matrix represented by the Fengyun A9L, Fengyun T11, and Zongheng G700. From January to October, the group sold 697,891 new energy vehicles, up 73.1% year-on-year.

GWM sold 46,155 new energy vehicles in October, up 44.06% year-on-year, marking a new historical high with a monthly NEV penetration rate of 31.6%. This is mainly due to the strong sales of products like the WEY Gaoshan and Haval Menglong. From January to October, GWM's cumulative NEV sales reached 324,618 units.

In terms of exports, Chery continues to lead. In October, Chery exported 126,434 vehicles, up 13% year-on-year. From January to October, Chery Group exported a cumulative 1.06 million vehicles, up 12.9% year-on-year, achieving its annual export target of 1 million vehicles at the fastest pace in history.

BYD continues to expand its overseas market, with October sales reaching 83,904 units, up 12.13% year-on-year and 17.75% month-on-month, marking a new historical high. Exports accounted for nearly 19% of BYD's October sales. Clearly, with declining domestic market sales, overseas markets have become crucial for BYD to stabilize and even increase its sales. From January to October, BYD's cumulative exports reached 785,483 units.

Changan (including joint ventures) and GWM each exported around 57,000 vehicles in October. Among them, Changan (including joint ventures) exported 57,355 vehicles, up 25% year-on-year but down 5.08% month-on-month. From January to October, cumulative exports reached 522,660 units, only 52% of the annual target of 1 million exports. GWM exported 57,158 vehicles in October, up 28.68% year-on-year and 13.70% month-on-month. Year-to-date exports reached 391,399 units. Compared to Changan's significant sales fluctuations, GWM's exports show steady growth.

Although Geely's overall and NEV sales are growing rapidly, its export volume ranks last among the five. In October, Geely exported 41,568 vehicles, up 23% year-on-year and 2.22% month-on-month, making it the only automaker among the five with exports still at the 40,000-unit level. From January to October, Geely's cumulative exports reached 377,696 units.

To boost year-end sales and prepare for the 2026 adjustment of NEV purchase tax policies, automakers are intensifying their efforts. On one hand, they launched multiple high-profile new models or refreshed versions of existing models from September to November, injecting new growth momentum into the market. On the other hand, to secure orders, several automakers have announced 'purchase tax guarantee' policies, promising to cover potential purchase tax differences for consumers who place orders before a specified deadline, thereby stimulating early purchase demand. These measures, combined with the year-end sales rush tradition, indicate that November will see particularly fierce competition among automakers.