China’s top ten cars in August: all electrified, and most of them are sold here

Not one petrol-powered car made the top ten in China’s passenger market in August, and the car that led it is on sale in New Zealand for $32,990.

The Geely EX2 topped the world’s largest car market with 39,651 sales, according to figures compiled by CarNewsChina, ahead of the Leapmotor A10 on 30,652 and the Tesla Model Y on 29,260. Nine of the ten best sellers were battery electric; the tenth, BYD’s Fang Cheng Bao Ti 7, sells in both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid form, with 55% of its 23,471 August sales the pure EV. The first combustion car was the Toyota Corolla Cross in 13th, and August was the second month this year in which no petrol model reached the top ten.

For New Zealand buyers the list reads less like a foreign market and more like a showroom tour. The EX2 we reviewed at $32,990 leads it. Second is the Leapmotor A10, sold here since last month as the B03X from $37,990. The Model Y is third, the BYD Atto 2 fifth, the Model 3 sixth and the BYD Dolphin ninth, all on sale here, while the Ti 7 is confirmed for New Zealand in 2027. Further down the top 20, the Geely Starray and BYD Sealion 6 are on sale here and the Geely Monjaro is headed this way, leaving the Changan Nevo Q05, Li Auto i6 and Xiaomi’s SU7 and YU7 as the significant absentees.

The EX2 also leads China’s year-to-date table with 266,166 sales, ahead of the Model Y on 226,931 and the Li Auto i6 on 152,845, and at 64,800 to 94,800 yuan, roughly NZ$15,500 to NZ$22,500, its Chinese pricing shows how much of a small EV’s local sticker is freight, compliance, margin and tax.

BYD placed five models in the top 20 including the Ti 7. Xiaomi’s fall was the month’s other movement: the SU7 dropped from fourth in July to tenth, and the YU7 SUV to 19th on 13,635, in the same fortnight the company committed to a European launch. Combustion nameplates that once anchored the top five, Volkswagen’s Lavida and Nissan’s Sylphy, now sit 15th and 23rd.

The gap between the two markets remains one of share rather than product: battery electric vehicles were 9.2% of New Zealand’s August registrations, against a Chinese top ten that has stopped making room for anything else.