China’s total vehicle sales dropped 5.1% from a year earlier in August 2026, following a 0.3% decline in the previous month, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). New energy vehicle (NEV) sales rose 17.8% year-on-year. For the first eight months of the year, vehicle sales fell 3.8% year-on-year, while NEV sales increased 10.7%. Last year, China’s vehicle sales grew 9.4% year-on-year to a record high of 34.4 million units, accelerating from a 4.5% rise in 2024, while NEV sales jumped 28.2%.