In the first half of 2026, the competitive landscape among leading self-owned brand automakers witnessed changes. As competition intensified in the Chinese automotive market, the retail sales volume of the top five self-owned automakers all declined to varying degrees year-on-year, with rankings fluctuating accordingly. Geely Auto surpassed BYD with a half-year retail sales volume of 1.0213 million units, ascending to the top spot among the top five self-owned automakers; BYD followed closely with 990,900 units, maintaining a scale of over one million units but experiencing a significant year-on-year decline. Meanwhile, Changan Auto, Chery Auto, and Great Wall Motors ranked third to fifth with 546,400, 412,900, and 292,400 units, respectively.

Notably, Great Wall Motors emerged as the automaker with the smallest year-on-year decline among the top five. However, in terms of overall retail sales volume, there remains a certain gap between Great Wall Motors and leading automakers such as Geely and BYD.

1st Place: Geely Auto - 1,021,343 units

In the first half of 2026, Geely Auto's cumulative domestic retail sales volume reached 1.0213 million units, a year-on-year decline of 16.7%. Despite overall market pressures, Geely maintained a stable sales volume through multi-brand synergistic development, ascending to the top spot in retail sales among self-owned brands. The Geely brand achieved half-year sales of 399,700 units, remaining the core force supporting the group's sales volume; Geely Galaxy's retail sales volume reached 378,700 units, becoming a significant pillar of Geely's new energy layout (layout). In recent years, Geely Galaxy has garnered positive market feedback in the mainstream new energy vehicle market with more competitive product pricing and high cost-effectiveness, becoming a key driver of Geely's sales growth.

Additionally, Zeekr's retail sales volume in the first half of the year reached 135,800 units, demonstrating relatively robust performance. Models such as the Zeekr 9X and Zeekr 7X gained recognition in the high-end SUV market, further enhancing the brand's market influence. However, compared to the performance of Galaxy and Zeekr, Lynk & Co's sales volume faced pressure, with its new energy transformation still encountering certain challenges. Its retail sales volume in the first half of the year was 106,200 units, a year-on-year decline of 25.49%.

Overall, Geely's ranking advancement was supported by the sales volume foundation provided by the Geely brand and the growth of new energy brands such as Galaxy and Zeekr. Meanwhile, Geely is accelerating its expansion into overseas markets, with sustained growth in export sales volume and continuous advancement of its global layout .

2nd Place: BYD - 990,879 units

In the first half of 2026, BYD's cumulative domestic retail sales volume reached 991,000 units, a year-on-year decline of 38.5%. In terms of ranking, BYD ended its previous long-standing leadership, dropping to second place and becoming the automaker with the largest year-on-year decline among the top five. Overall, BYD faced growth pressures in the domestic market as competition in the new energy vehicle market intensified, with brands such as Geely and Leapmotor experiencing rapid growth in certain market segments, posing competitive pressure on BYD.

As the mainstay of BYD's sales volume, the Dynasty and Ocean networks achieved cumulative retail sales volume of 795,700 units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decline of 45.94%. Given the high proportion of sales volume from these two brands, their decline directly impacted BYD's overall sales performance.

Meanwhile, although some of BYD's other brands achieved growth, their current scale was insufficient to fully offset the impact of the decline in sales volume from the Dynasty and Ocean networks. Among them, the Fangchengbao series achieved sales volume of 130,800 units, a year-on-year increase of 115.24%. With the launch of models such as the Titan 7, Fangchengbao performed outstandingly in the off-road new energy vehicle market; Yangwang achieved sales volume of 1,950 units, a year-on-year increase of 94.42%. As BYD's high-end brand targeting the million-yuan new energy vehicle market, its market performance is gradually improving. In contrast, Denza achieved sales volume of 62,500 units, a year-on-year decline of 18.9%. Against the backdrop of intensifying competition in the high-end new energy vehicle market, its sales volume faced pressure.

Currently, BYD covers multiple market segments, including family sedans, urban SUVs, high-end business, and new energy off-road vehicles. However, in terms of sales contribution, the Dynasty and Ocean networks remain the main supports, while other brands still need to further increase their sales volume.

3rd Place: Changan Auto - 546,406 units

In the first half of 2026, Changan Auto's global sales volume reached approximately 1.1956 million units. Among them, the cumulative domestic retail sales volume was 546,400 units, a year-on-year decline of 20.00%.

In terms of sales structure, the Changan brand remained the core of the group's sales volume, achieving sales of 241,400 units in the first half of the year, continuing to play a stable role with a large user base. In terms of new energy vehicles, both Changan Qiyuan and Shenlan Auto achieved year-on-year growth. Qiyuan achieved sales of 144,200 units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 60.03%, while Shenlan Auto achieved sales of 127,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 8.28%. The growth of these two new energy brands also provided significant sales support for Changan's new energy layout (layout).

However, Avatr faced market pressures, achieving sales of only 27,900 units in the first half of the year, with an average monthly retail sales volume of approximately 4,600 units. Against the backdrop of intensifying competition in the high-end new energy vehicle market, the brand's sales volume scale still needs to be further expanded. Additionally, Changan Kaicheng and Changan Oushang achieved sales of 5,642 and 2,671 units, respectively, contributing relatively limitedly to the group's overall sales volume.

Overall, Changan Auto still relies mainly on traditional fuel vehicle sales volume. Although new energy brands such as Qiyuan and Shenlan have achieved growth, their market presence remains low. As competition in the new energy vehicle market intensifies, Changan still needs to further promote the sales volume growth of its new energy brands while enhancing the market competitiveness of high-end brands such as Avatr in the future.

4th Place: Chery Auto - 412,868 units

In the first half of 2026, Chery Auto's global sales volume reached approximately 1.3575 million units. Among them, the cumulative domestic retail sales volume was 413,000 units, a year-on-year decline of 36.4%, second only to BYD, indicating pressures in the domestic market. However, benefiting from sustained expansion in overseas markets, Chery's export sales volume in the first half of the year accounted for nearly 70% of its global sales volume, with the export business becoming a significant pillar driving its overall sales volume.

In the domestic market, the performance of Chery's various brands varied. As the foundation of the group's sales volume, the Chery brand achieved sales of 178,300 units in the first half of the year, remaining the main source of the group's sales volume; Jetour achieved sales of 69,600 units, maintaining a certain sales volume scale but facing increasing growth pressures as competition in market segments intensified. In the new energy vehicle sector, Chery Fengyun achieved sales of 42,300 units in the first half of the year, with its sales volume scale gradually expanding as new energy products continue to be deployed; however, iCAR and Exeed faced relatively greater pressures, achieving retail sales volume of 24,900 and 10,300 units, respectively, in the first half of the year, both experiencing year-on-year declines, requiring further breakthroughs in the process of new energy transformation and brand upgrading. Additionally, Zhijie achieved retail sales volume of 19,700 units in the first half of the year, with its overall sales volume scale still needing to be improved.

Overall, Chery still faces certain pressures in the domestic market but has maintained its overall sales volume scale through overseas market expansion and multi-brand layout (layout). However, facing intensifying competition in the domestic new energy vehicle market, Chery still needs to further enhance the market performance of its new energy brands.

5th Place: Great Wall Motors - 292,400 units

In the first half of 2026, Great Wall Motors' global sales volume reached approximately 583,800 units, with its cumulative domestic retail sales volume being 292,400 units, a year-on-year decline of 4.4%, representing a relatively small year-on-year decline among the top five self-owned automakers. Although the domestic market faced overall pressures, Great Wall Motors maintained relatively stable overall sales volume through multi-brand layout (layout) including Haval, Tank, WEY, and Ora.

In terms of brand performance, the Haval brand achieved sales of 121,200 units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decline of 33.78%. As Great Wall's previous sales mainstay, the Haval H6 once dominated the compact SUV market for an extended period. However, as brands such as Chery accelerated their layout (layout), competition further intensified, impacting Haval's sales volume. Nevertheless, Tank and WEY alleviated some of the pressure caused by Haval's decline to a certain extent, with Tank achieving sales of 57,600 units and WEY achieving sales of 40,800 units in the first half of the year. Additionally, Ora performed relatively impressively, achieving retail sales volume of 15,200 units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 98.29%, achieving rapid growth in the new energy small car market.

Overall, Great Wall Motors still faces challenges in its new energy transformation, with limited market presence of hybrid products. Notably, Ora's year-on-year sales growth positions it as a potential significant growth point in Great Wall's new energy layout (layout).

In Conclusion:

Overall, the competitive landscape among self-owned brands underwent adjustments in the first half of 2026, with changes in the retail sales volume rankings among leading automakers. All five self-owned automakers experienced varying degrees of decline in retail sales volume, intensifying market competition pressures. From the perspective of new energy transformation progress, BYD transformed relatively quickly, with new energy vehicle models becoming the mainstay of its sales volume; Geely accelerated its new energy layout (layout) through brands such as Galaxy and Zeekr, with new energy products performing relatively prominently; in contrast, Chery, Changan, and Great Wall Motors still rely mainly on fuel vehicle sales volume. Although they continue to deploy new energy brands, their overall scale and market influence remain in the catch-up stage.

As competition in the new energy vehicle market continues to intensify, self-owned automakers are seeking new growth spaces through new energy layout (layout), overseas market expansion, and advantages in specific market segments. Among them, overseas markets are emerging as new growth spaces for self-owned brands and will become an important direction for future automaker competition.

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