China’s New-Energy Vehicles Hit 1.8 Million Wholesale in October as Leapmotor Tops 100,000 for a Fourth Straight Month

Wholesale sales of new-energy passenger vehicles in China reached approximately 1.8 million units in October 2026, up 12 percent year over year and 8 percent from September, according to preliminary estimates the China Passenger Car Association released November 3. After a period of adjustment, the association said the sector has entered a recovery channel, with growth significantly outpacing the overall market.

The startup rankings shifted noticeably. Leapmotor delivered 106,100 vehicles in October, up 51 percent from a year earlier, marking its fourth consecutive month above 100,000 units. BYD remained the industry leader with about 490,000 new-energy vehicles in October, up roughly 11 percent year over year — a month in which it sold more pure battery-electrics, 305,743, than the entire United States bought in the whole third quarter.

The association attributes October’s growth to three main drivers, and the most important is a deadline: subsidy programs are set to expire at the end of December, prompting consumers to pull purchases forward. China’s new-energy vehicles hit a record 67 percent of new-car sales in September, according to Carbon Brief’s analysis of association data.

The question now is what January looks like. If October’s strength is mostly buyers rushing the subsidy deadline, the first months of 2027 could be soft even for the brands setting records today — and the gap between the scale leaders and the rest of the field is widening fast.