Chinese Market Q4 2025
New Energy x Intelligent Connected, and Demonstration of L3 AD
Summary
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced on January 14, 2026, that the new vehicle sales volume in China in 2025 increased 9.4% compared to 2024, to 34.440 million units. This includes passenger cars up 9.2% year-over-year (y/y) to 30.103 million units, commercial vehicles up 10.9% y/y to 4.296 million units, and New Energy Vehicles (NEVs: BEVs, PHEVs, FECVs) up 28.2% y/y to 16.49 million units. The share of NEVs in new vehicle sales reached 47.9%, up 7 percentage points compared to the previous year.
This report presents the major developments in the Chinese market for Chinese and overseas-based/foreign-equity OEMs in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025.
Chinese OEMs are successively promoting L3 autonomous driving (AD) tests and accelerating the deployment of Embodied Intelligence. BYD, GAC, XPeng, and Li Auto have all been conducting L3 road tests and verifications. Changan Automobile presented its humanoid robot strategy, while Phoenix, a subsidiary of Seres that develops AI, and Volcengine signed a cooperation agreement on Embodied Intelligence; and XPeng announced its own AI humanoid robot and mass-produced Robotaxi developed in-house.
Foreign OEMs are accelerating research and development in China, focusing on intelligent technology and new energy products that are suited to the market. CARIZON, a joint venture between VW's software subsidiary CARIAD and Horizon Robotics, plans to independently develop a SoC (System-on-a-Chip) for autonomous driving in China. Honda and Dongfeng are promoting demonstration operations of hydrogen fuel cell powered commercial vehicles.
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has approved two L3 autonomous driving vehicle models. This represents a breakthrough in China's management of intelligent connected cars and marks the entry of autonomous driving technology into a new phase of conditional, large-scale application. In addition, the "Intelligent Connected Car Network Technology Roadmap (2025-2030)," released in October clearly outlines the medium- to long-term technology roadmap for intelligent connected vehicles in the Chinese automotive industry.
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