Abstract:
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, recently published an industry analysis article, disclosing the core operating data of the domestic automobile industry in the first three quarters of 2026. The profitability of the entire industry has fallen to an extremely low range in recent years.
From January to September 2026, the cumulative domestic automobile production was 23.37 million units, a slight decrease of 4% year-on-year; the total industry revenue reached 8,043.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%;
The corresponding total operating cost was 7,162.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%, significantly outperforming the revenue growth rate; the industry's cumulative total profit was 267.5 billion yuan, a sharp decrease of 23% year-on-year, corresponding to an overall sales profit margin of only 3.3%.
Looking at the operating data for September alone, the scale of automobile production reached 3.06 million units. Sales revenue for the month was 1.0374 billion yuan, a slight increase of 0.6% year-on-year. The total operating cost for the month was 925.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%. The final monthly profit of the entire industry was only 14.2 billion yuan, a 68% year-on-year drop. The sales profit margin was as low as 1.4%, at a low level in the past four years.
In 2026, all parts of the country are vigorously promoting the implementation of the two new policies to promote consumption. The vitality released by domestic demand has already appeared in many consumer goods tracks, but the efficiency improvement rate of the automobile industry clearly lags behind other consumer goods categories.
Cui Dongshu pointed out that as the country's anti-involution work continues to advance, the automobile industry chain is precisely the link most severely squeezed by the upstream cost side. The legacy of terminal price competition has never been completely resolved. Coupled with the skyrocketing international oil prices, the profits of upstream core component categories such as non-ferrous metals and semiconductors have increased significantly. Under the double squeeze, end consumers are increasingly wait-and-see about car purchases. The overall operating pressure of car companies continues to rise. The promotion of high-quality development of the industry is directly affected by the huge impact of the upstream cost side.
Judging from the trend curve of industry sales profit margins over the years, the profit performance of the domestic automobile industry has already shown a weak trend in 2024. The annual sales profit margin is only 4.3%, which has declined significantly compared with the previous normal profit level of the industry.
In 2025, the sales profit margin of the entire industry further dropped to 4.1%, and the downward trend has not been reversed. From January to September 2026, the overall sales profit margin of the industry dropped to 3.3% again, of which it was only 1.4% in September, which was even lower than the previous lowest monthly record of 1.8% set in December 2025.
September itself is a month with low traditional profit margins in the automobile industry. This year, the pressure on the production and sales of fuel vehicles is far greater than in previous years. In addition, the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday has occupied a lot of production and sales time on working days, and the profit pressure of the entire industry has reached an unprecedented high.
The continued decline in profitability of the entire industry means that in the future, car companies will inevitably continue to reduce non-essential cost investments, and the living space of many small and medium-sized brands will be further squeezed. The pace of industry reshuffle will further accelerate, and ultimately there will be little buffer time left for weak car companies.
As a rough estimate, the industry as a whole made an average of about 1,145 yuan per car sold in the first three quarters; in September, the average profit per car was only 464 yuan.
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