China Automobile Dealers Association: The overall inventory coefficient of car dealers in August was 1.58, up 6.8% month-on-month

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 10, the China Automobile Dealers Association released the results of the “Auto Dealer Inventory” survey for August 2026: The comprehensive inventory coefficient for car dealers in August was 1.58, up 6.8% from the previous month and 20.6% from the previous year. Overall, although the car market showed some restoration in August, terminal demand is still not stable, dealer inventory pressure is rising, and the industry as a whole is still in the process of bottoming out and adjusting.

Inventory factors increased year-on-year and month-on-month in January and August

In August, the overall auto market showed a trend of low and high trends. Market performance was sluggish at the beginning of the month due to factors such as high temperatures, holidays and heavy rainfall from the typhoon; starting in the middle of the month, consumer demand suppressed earlier was gradually released, and terminal sales and willingness to trade improved; in late July, with the opening of the Chengdu Auto Show and the start of pre-sales and sales of various new cars, combined with local car purchase subsidies, continued to gain strength, and market activity increased compared to the previous period. However, compared to the same period last year, the sales gap is still obvious. The off-season effect and extreme weather disturbances still exist. At the same time, price competition has intensified, compounded by consumer expectations for subsequent concessions, and wait-and-see sentiment is still spreading.

According to data from the Passenger Federation Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, the national passenger car market retailed 1,541 thousand vehicles in August. According to this estimate, the total inventory of car dealers at the end of August was about 2.44 million vehicles, and the overall inventory scale of the channel increased slightly compared to the end of July.

2. Inventory factors for high-end luxury, imported, joint ventures, and independent brands increased month-on-month

The inventory coefficient for high-end luxury and imported brands was 1.93, and the inventory coefficient increased 24.5% month-on-month; the inventory coefficient for joint venture brands was 1.73, up 12.3% month-on-month; and the inventory coefficient for independent brands was 1.45, up 0.7% month-on-month.

The brand with the highest inventory depth in March and August

According to the survey, the inventory depth of mainstream brands in August was greater than 2 months for a total of 13 brands. They are ranked by inventory depth from highest to lowest: Volvo, Roewe, FAW Hongqi, Yueda Kia, SAIC-GM Cadillac, Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Honda, Audi, FAW-Volkswagen, Dongfeng Nissan, Citroen Peugeot, etc.

4. Carefully anticipate market demand in September 2026 and reasonably control inventory

In September, the automobile market was driven by multiple factors such as the release of compensatory consumer demand, the centralized launch of new cars, and traditional peak sales season expectations, and the market is expected to continue to recover moderately from month to month. However, the year-on-year performance of the market remains under pressure due to insufficient demand for terminals, continued price wars in the industry, compounded by strong wait-and-see sentiment among consumers holding coins, and a high base for the same period last year. As a result, despite positive factors, the “Gold Nine Silver Ten” peak season effect in September this year was weak, and market recovery efforts were limited. Overall, it still showed a moderate month-on-month recovery, and continued to decline year-on-year.