1. China's vehicle parc reached 350 million units in 2024. By the end of 2025, it is expected to exceed 370 million, with passenger vehicle parc likely reaching 320 million units.
By the end of 2024, China's vehicle parc reached 350 million units, including 310 million passenger vehicles, representing a 6% YoY increase.
China’s passenger vehicle parc has seen its growth rate gradually slow since 2016, yet the overall upward trend remains unchanged. It is expected to reach 320 million units in 2025, while China’s total vehicle parc will exceed 370 million units.
The growth of the vehicle parc is driven by multiple factors, including policy support, economic development, urbanization, and technological progress.
On the whole, the continued expansion of China's automotive market reflects rising consumer purchasing power and sustained economic development, while also providing a new engine for global automotive growth and leading industry transformation toward electrification, intelligence, and green development. Compared with other major global markets, China, though now ranked first in vehicle parc, still has only about 250 vehicles per 1,000 people, far below the United States (868), Japan (624), and Germany (590), indicating substantial potential for further growth in the Chinese market.
2. China’s passenger vehicles in 2025 had an average age of 7.3 years and an average annual mileage of approximately 10,089 kilometers, with the two indicators showing an upward and a downward trend respectively
China’s passenger vehicles in 2025 have reached an average age of 7.3 years, showing an upward trend in recent years. Improvements in the circulation efficiency of the used vehicle market have extended the lifecycle of vehicles. In addition, enhancements in the driving range and quality of certain NEVs have strengthened user willingness to retain their cars, thereby altering vehicle replacement cycles. It is worth noting that as NEVs continue to enter the market and older fuel vehicles are gradually phased out, the phase-out pace still lags behind new-vehicle launches. As a result, the overall growth in vehicle age may slow in the future, stabilizing within a range of roughly 7 to 8 years.
China’s passenger vehicles in 2025 recorded an average annual mileage of 10,089 kilometers, representing a 3% decline compared with 2024. The main reason lies in the diversification of urban residents’ transportation patterns: on the one hand, some middle- and high-income households own multiple vehicles, resulting in reduced usage frequency per vehicle; on the other hand, shared mobility services, public transportation, and urban congestion-control policies have dispersed the travel demand that would otherwise rely on private passenger vehicles.
Looking forward, with rapid NEV adoption and optimized policy directions, China's passenger vehicle market will show increasingly distinct structural differentiation. Differences in vehicle age and driving mileage between categories—such as fuel vehicles vs. NEVs, and sedans vs. SUVs—will become increasingly pronounced.
Note: The average vehicle age by powertrain type is detailed in Chapter 5, The NEV Era, while mileage trends are further analyzed in Chapter 4, Insights into Car Owners.
3. In 2025, most categories in the aftermarket experienced a YoY decline in sales volume. Gear oils, batteries, and oxygen sensors saw a YoY growth in sales volume. Control arms remained roughly unchanged from the same period last year.
As of October 2025, sales performance across different aftermarket categories demonstrates a clear divergence. Specifically, gear-oil sales recorded a slight YoY increase of 1%. This mild growth is partly supported by the continued rise in NEV sales, as gear oil still has certain application scenarios in electric and hybrid vehicle systems. Oxygen-sensor sales achieved an 8% YoY increase, standing out among all categories. On the one hand, as some older vehicles accumulate more years in service and higher total mileage, replacement demand for oxygen sensors continues to rise. On the other hand, the full implementation of the China VI emission standards has imposed stricter requirements on exhaust-emission control, making the precise performance of oxygen sensors essential for ensuring regulatory compliance.
In sharp contrast, several major categories—including other lubricants, passenger vehicle tires, filtration systems, braking systems, and ignition systems—are experiencing varying degrees of sales decline. This shift is closely related to changes in overall vehicle usage frequency, evolving maintenance habits among car owners, and the rising share of NEVs.
It also reflects an increasingly divergent growth-decline pattern across aftermarket categories and a more complex competitive landscape. Against this backdrop, enterprises must adopt more targeted approaches in inventory management, product planning, and marketing strategies to effectively respond to demand fluctuations across different categories.
Note: Data as of October 2025; gear oil includes lubricants used for manual transmissions, front/rear differentials, and EV reducers.
4. In 2025, major categories show distinct brand-competition divergence. Concentrated categories such as brake fluid and engine oil see intensified competition; Fragmented categories such as gear oil and coolant show increasing concentration.
The automotive aftermarket in 2025 shows a markedly divergent competitive landscape across product categories, with categories of different concentration levels evolving along differentiated paths, reflected specifically in the following ways.
Brand-concentrated categories: In brand-concentrated categories represented by brake fluids and engine oils, the number of brands within the top 80% market share in 2025 remained below 15, yet still increased compared with 2024. New brands have intensified competition in markets previously dominated by leading players, making the competitive landscape increasingly diversified.
Brand-fragmented categories: These categories exhibit dual trends of "consolidation" and "further fragmentation." For categories such as gear oil and coolant, the number of brands within the top 80% market share decreased in 2025 compared with 2024, indicating gradual consolidation of small and medium-sized brands and rising category concentration. Conversely, categories such as cabin air filters and passenger vehicle tires saw a YoY increase in the number of brands within the top 80% market share in 2025, with new entrants further diluting category concentration.
On the whole, this divergence results from the combined effects of rising consumer expectations and deepening industry competition. It also signals that aftermarket categories are gradually entering a mature development stage characterized by "intensive cultivation in concentrated categories and differentiated evolution in fragmented categories."
Note: Changes in the number of brands accounting for the top 80% market share in each category, based on continuous observation from 2024 to 2025.
5. In the engine oil market, 96% of total sales volume comes from conventional vehicles. Domestic brands are increasing their share in both conventional vehicles and hybrid vehicles — with both their share and growth rate significantly higher in the hybrid vehicle segment.
In 2025, conventional vehicles dominated the engine oil market, accounting for 96% of total sales volume.
Domestic-brand engine oil achieved positive growth across all powertrain segments, as shown below:
Conventional vehicle market: The sales proportion of domestic brands rises steadily from 10% in 2023 to 13% in 2025, achieving a cumulative increase of 2.2 percentage points over three years, with a stable growth trajectory.
Hybrid HEV market: Domestic brands show strong momentum, with their sales proportion surging from 13% in 2023 to 18% in 2025, a cumulative increase of 4.7 percentage points over three years.
It is particularly noteworthy that although the overall engine oil market for hybrid vehicles remains relatively small (only 4%), the growth rate of domestic-brand penetration in this segment significantly outpaces that of the conventional vehicle segment. This divergence not only highlights the first-mover competitive advantage of domestic engine oil brands in NEV-related segments, but also indicates that they hold stronger market-growth potential and strategic value as the automotive powertrain landscape continues to shift in the future.
6. In the passenger vehicle tire market, competition between domestic and foreign brands is intensifying. Conventional vehicle segment: Domestic brands continue strengthening their lead. NEV segment: Foreign brands have stopped declining and show a slight rebound. Domestic-Brand Sales Proportion.
In 2025, conventional vehicles dominate the passenger vehicle tire market with a 90% share of total sales volume.
From a brand-competition perspective, domestic and foreign brands show differentiated patterns across powertrain types:
Conventional vehicle market: Domestic brands continue strengthening their lead, with sales proportion rising from 50% in 2023 to 54% in 2025, a cumulative increase of 4 percentage points over three years.
NEV market: Foreign brands show a "decline and rebound" reversal trend. From 2023 to 2024, domesticbrand share increased from 57% to 59%, while foreign brands lost share. However, in 2025, foreign brands rebounded, and domestic-brand share slipped back to 56%.
It is worth noting that although NEVs currently account for a relatively small share of the overall market (10%), the emerging "foreign-brand rebound" trend within this segment carries important strategic significance that should not be overlooked. This trend clearly demonstrates foreign brands' late-stage adjustment and rapid adaptation capabilities, particularly in core R&D for NEV-dedicated tire technologies and in integrating strategic cooperation resources with automakers. Looking ahead, the NEV-dedicated tire market will gradually expand as the penetration of NEVs continues to rise. The evolving competitive landscape within this segment will also become an important variable shaping the overall development trajectory of the passenger vehicle tire market.
7. In 2025, monthly aftermarket output value drops YoY across all months (after adjusting for the impact of the Spring Festival holidays in different months). As of October, YTD output value has already declined by 5% YoY.
Aftermarket output value in 2025 shows a pattern of "occasional monthly rebounds, but cumulative performance remaining in a declining range." Overall output value shrinks significantly compared with the same period in 2024, and the market performance remains relatively weak. The specific characteristics are as follows:
First, after adjusting for the seasonal fluctuations caused by the Spring Festival holiday (i.e., February), the monthly output values in all other months fail to reach the levels of the same months in 2024. As of October, the cumulative annual output value has declined by 5% YoY, which clearly indicates that the aftermarket's current growth momentum is insufficient and that it is facing considerable development challenges.
Second, after the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, starting from March, the monthly output value shows a month-by-month downward trend, with only a slight rebound occurring in July. However, it is worth noting that this upward trend is not sustained; beginning in August, output value again shows a continuous month-over-month decline. The MoM performance remains weak, and the market has not seen any solid, supportive, or phased recovery. The recovery of output value continues to face significant resistance.
Note: Output value refers to the total actual revenue received by repair stores from vehicle owners, excluding car-wash services; data updated as of October 2025.
8. In 2025, 64% of stores experienced a YoY decline in service visits15% of stores saw a YoY decrease of more than 25%. A higher proportion of stores in lower-tier markets achieved YoY growth in service visits.
The 2025 distribution of YoY service visit growth across stores, together with the breakdown by city tier, shows that growth is primarily concentrated in the low-to-mid range, and that city-tier differences exhibit a clear and consistent influence on growth patterns. This is reflected as follows:
① In 2025, store-level service visit growth presents a structure of “low growth dominant, high growth scarce”: more than 60% of stores face negative YoY growth, while only 9% achieve YoY growth above 25%, highlighting the rarity of high-growth stores.
② From a city-tier perspective, growth characteristics differ significantly across market levels: the lower the city tier, the higher the proportion of stores achieving YoY growth in service visits. In fourth- and fifth-tier cities, more than 40% of stores report positive YoY growth. This differentiated pattern is driven by three main factors: First, residents in more developed cities are more sensitive to economic cycles, and their vehicle-maintenance behavior is shifting from traditional “scheduled maintenance” to “maintenance on demand,” directly weakening the momentum for service visit growth. Second, NEV penetration is significantly higher in developed cities, and NEVs require fewer maintenance visits and fewer service items than ICE vehicles, further suppressing visit-volume growth. Third, competition in the automotive aftermarket is more intense in developed cities, and the accelerated expansion of chain stores has intensified customer diversion, placing greater pressure on service visit growth for traditional independent stores.
Note: Data as of October 2025
9. The proportion of service visits driven by simplified business needs (where customers only consume a single service item) continues to rise, reflecting a trend toward more precise (and cost-saving) consumption behavior among vehicle owners.
In 2025, vehicle owners exhibited a more pronounced "simplified" consumption pattern during vehicle maintenance and repair: the proportion of owners making four or more service items per visit further dropped to 8%, not only hitting a new low but also extending the three-year consecutive decline. This reflects the gradual abandonment of bundled multi-service consumption.
Behind this clear behavioral shift lies a profound change in consumer mindset: today, vehicle owners approach maintenance and repair with more focused needs—each visit is increasingly purpose-driven, primarily to address specific vehicle issues or complete necessary basic maintenance, rather than passively accepting additional services. This also means that the traditional model of driving consumption through "bundled marketing" or "service stacking" no longer aligns with the rational, targeted decision-making logic of modern vehicle owners, placing higher demands on the refined operations of maintenance and repair service providers.
10. The “time and mileage lengthening” trend in both time and mileage intervals for basic maintenance, which leads to a decline in the frequency of vehicle servicing, reflects a more rational (and cost-saving) approach by vehicle owners in planning their maintenance schedules.
In 2025, the interval between basic maintenance services for vehicle owners continues to lengthen: the proportion of owners who wait nine months or longer before visiting a garage for basic maintenance has reached 45%, up 2 percentage points compared with 2024. The median interval currently remains stable at around eight months but still shows a lengthening trend.
In terms of mileage intervals, the changes are equally notable: prior to 2023, the median basic maintenance mileage interval was concentrated between 7,000 and 8,000 kilometers, whereas in the past two years this median has shifted to between 8,000 and 9,000 kilometers, indicating a significant extension.
The continuous lengthening of both time and mileage intervals for basic maintenance will directly lead to reduced visit frequency. This change not only decreases the opportunities for contact between maintenance stores and vehicle owners but also indirectly weakens the conversion potential for derivative maintenance services such as tire replacement, chassis inspection, and fluid upgrades. It has become one of the key factors contributing to the decline in service visit volumes across various automotive aftermarket businesses and the pressure on sales volumes of multiple categories.
11. In the past two years, the average annual M&R value per vehicle has shown a slight decline, and reducing vehicle operating costs has become a common trend among all vehicle owners. High-end vehicles priced above 300,000 yuan still have the highest annual M&R value.
In 2025, the average annual maintenance and repair (M&R) value per vehicle continued the slight downward trend from 2024, falling below 2,500 yuan.
When analyzed by vehicle price segment, for vehicles priced below 300,000 yuan, although the average annual M&R value per vehicle has not yet recovered to the 2021 level, it has generally maintained a mild declining trend with small fluctuations. In contrast, for high-end vehicles priced above 300,000 yuan, the decline in average annual M&R value per vehicle is more significant, especially compared to 2021, with the average annual value contracting by nearly 1,000 yuan. The core reason for this divergence lies in the fact that for vehicles priced below 300,000 yuan, the room for compressing vehicle usage costs is relatively limited, whereas owners of high-end vehicles have a wider range of parts options and still possess further potential to reduce costs.
12、Among the brands of vehicles priced above 200,000 yuan, the average annual M&R value per vehicle increases proportionally with the vehicle price. Within the same price segment, there are significant differences in M&R value among vehicles of different brands.
Focusing on vehicle models priced above 200,000 yuan, the average annual M&R value per vehicle varies significantly among owners of different vehicle brands.
In the 200,000-300,000 yuan range, Buick owners exhibit an average annual per-vehicle M&R value exceeding 3,000 yuan, while owners of Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and Ford see their annual M&R value fluctuate between 2,800 and 3,000 yuan, maintaining a stable trend compared to 2024.
In the above 300,000 yuan range, owners of Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi all record an average annual per-vehicle M&R value surpassing 5,000 yuan, indicating a high-value segment. Notably, Lexus owners show a clear upward trend in 2025 M&R value, becoming a standout highlight in this range. Observations from specific consumer behavior data reveal that compared with 2024, the after-sales service structure of Lexus vehicle owners in 2025 has undergone significant changes. The proportion of repair-related services has increased by nearly 5 percentage points, becoming the core factor driving the growth in per-vehicle M&R value for Lexus owners.
Note: The above reflects the average annual M&R value per vehicle for conventional vehicle brands within the same vehicle price segment.
13. The NEV service visits in independent after-sales channels continued to grow rapidly, exceeding 10% in the third quarter of 2025, with the full-year proportion reaching 8.9%. The proportion of service visits among the three different powertrain types has stabilized.
In 2025, the share of NEVs in service visits within China’s independent aftermarket service system increased by another 1.7 percentage points compared to 2024, continuing the steady upward trend observed over the past four years. Quarterly operational data show that the proportion of NEV service visits in Q2 and Q3 of 2025 consistently fluctuated around 10%, remaining at a relatively high level. This clearly reflects the growing demand for maintenance and services among NEV owners. At a deeper level, the rapid growth in the NEV parc has been the core driver behind the increasing market activity of NEV owners in maintenance and service segments. From a powertrain perspective, the proportion of service visits across different types of NEVs is gradually stabilizing: battery electric vehicles continue to dominate the NEV after-sales market, maintaining a relatively stable market share. At the same time, range-extended electric vehicles have shown a significant rise in maintenance demand, indicating their rapidly growing acceptance among consumers. In contrast, the proportion of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in service visits has declined in recent years, reflecting subtle shifts in the focus of the NEV after-sales market.
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