China Used Car Market 2025
As of December, the national used car market exhibited a "stable at the beginning and adjusted at the end" trend throughout the year. Influenced by multiple factors such as policy phasing out, competition from new cars, and changes in consumer sentiment, the market entered a period of adjustment at the end of the year, while structural highlights and regional differentiation became increasingly prominent.
According to the latest data from the China Automobile Dealers Association and market dynamics, the current used car market is under overall pressure, but circulation efficiency continues to improve. The differentiated performance of sub-sectors and regional markets constitutes the core characteristics of the current market.
Looking at overall transaction data, from January to November 2025, the cumulative transaction volume of used cars nationwide reached 18.2369 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 2.95%, with a cumulative transaction value of 1,169.118 billion yuan, indicating a steady expansion of the market size. However, entering the fourth quarter, market growth momentum weakened.
November's single-month transaction volume was 1.7462 million vehicles, a month-on-month decrease of 0.67% and a year-on-year decrease of 2.21%, failing to continue the strong sales momentum of the "Golden September and Silver October" period.
This change stems primarily from three factors: First, as various local government subsidy programs for trading in old cars for new ones gradually come to an end, consumers are uncertain about policy trends and price movements, leading to a wait-and-see attitude and delayed purchase decisions.
Second, the year-end new car market is seeing intensive price reductions and promotions to meet sales targets, directly squeezing the used car market. Third, the used car manager index remains in a sluggish range, falling to 46.3% in November, a 1.5 percentage point decrease month-on-month, reflecting a lack of confidence in the industry.
A significant characteristic of the current market is the differentiation in vehicle type structure, with passenger cars and commercial vehicles showing marked differences in performance. In the passenger car sector, cumulative transactions from January to November reached 14.294 million units, a year-on-year increase of only 0.97%.
Growth slowed for mainstream models such as basic passenger cars and SUVs, with November's transaction volume decreasing by 5.07% and 6.37% year-on-year, respectively. In contrast, MPVs performed strongly, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 7.55%, and a 2.79% year-on-year increase in November alone, demonstrating the strong demand for family multi-person travel.
The commercial vehicle market performed strongly, with a cumulative transaction volume of 2.5982 million vehicles from January to November, a year-on-year increase of 7.80%. Trucks led the growth with a 9.15% year-on-year increase, while the bus market also achieved stable growth of 5.83%, reflecting strong replacement demand in the logistics and public transportation sectors.
Regional markets exhibited a pattern of "north-south divergence and localized recovery." Among the six major regions, East China, Central South, and Southwest China saw month-on-month transaction volumes decline by 2.03%, 0.1%, and 5.11% respectively in November, with significant declines in provinces and cities such as Shanghai and Yunnan. In contrast, North China, Northeast China, and Northwest China saw month-on-month increases of 2.43%, 0.63%, and 4.59% respectively, with clear recovery trends in markets such as Beijing, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang.
Notably, the continued rise in cross-regional circulation has become key to alleviating inventory pressure in some areas. In November, the proportion of cross-regional circulation of used cars reached 33.87%, a year-on-year increase of 4 percentage points, demonstrating the gradual effectiveness of the national unified market construction and effectively improving market circulation efficiency.
In terms of price and inventory, the market is showing a healthy adjustment trend of "slight increase in average price and optimization of inventory." The average transaction price of used cars in November was 64,100 yuan, a slight increase of 1,000 yuan month-on-month, with a relatively stable price trend. The inventory cycle shortened to 45 days, one day less than the previous month, indicating a slight improvement in circulation efficiency.
Looking at the vehicle age structure, vehicles aged 3-6 years still accounted for the majority of transactions, at 42.72%, but this was a year-on-year decrease of 7.12%. Meanwhile, the proportion of vehicles over 10 years old rose to 11.77%, a year-on-year increase of 4.25%, reflecting an accelerated release of demand for replacing older vehicles, aligning with the policy direction of "trade-in" programs.
Policy and market innovation continue to support industry development. The pilot reform of automobile circulation and consumption, launched by eight departments including the Ministry of Commerce, continues to advance.
Innovative explorations in areas such as facilitating used car transaction registration, online transaction supervision, and the inspection and valuation of new energy used cars are gradually addressing industry pain points.
At the same time, the cross-regional circulation and quality assurance system promoted by e-commerce platforms has achieved significant results, with online demand for new energy used cars reaching 19.3%, and the residual value of leading brands continuing to improve.
