Tesla has fallen out of China’s top 10 New Energy Vehicle (NEV) brands, according to the latest retail data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The Tesla China sales slump comes as BYD tightens its grip on the world’s largest car market.
Tesla China Sales: October Numbers
In October 2026, Tesla sold 8,817 NEVs, a count that includes both EVs and plug-in hybrids. In September, it was ranked fourth. For comparison, Nio sold 34,030 vehicles and Li Auto sold 27,018 in the same month.
| Brand | October NEV sales |
|---|---|
| BYD | 250,301 (22.4% share) |
| Geely | 131,708 (11.8% share) |
| Leapmotor | 83,573 |
| Xiaomi Auto | 50,123 |
| Nio | 34,030 |
| Li Auto | 27,018 |
| Tesla | 8,817 |
BYD Leads, Xiaomi Climbs
BYD leads with 250,301 NEV sales and a 22.4% market share, followed by Geely with 131,708 sales (11.8%) and Leapmotor with 83,573. Xiaomi Auto moved up from ninth to sixth place with 50,123 sales, growing 25.3% from September, the highest monthly growth among the top 10, and 3.0% compared to last year.
Ten-Month Picture
Tesla also slipped in the rankings for the first ten months of the year, from fifth to seventh place. Between January and October it sold 389,905 NEVs in China, a 15.0% decrease from the same period last year. Xiaomi returned to the top 10 with 336,613 sales, while BYD led with 1.945 million NEVs. Tesla also dropped from sixth to 11th place in a long-term EV innovation ranking in October.
A Shrinking Market With a Record NEV Share
China’s overall passenger car market shrank by 27.1% in October compared with last year, with 1,643,000 cars sold. NEV sales also fell 13.7% to 1,109,000, but their share of passenger car retail sales hit a record 67.5%. China was the world’s largest car market in 2025, with 23.9 million passenger cars sold.
What Happens Next
November and December figures will show whether Tesla can recover ground against local brands in the year-end sales push. Official industry data is published by the China Passenger Car Association.
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