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The 10 Countries That Buy the Most New Cars and Trucks |
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The car industry’s global body, OICA, counts 99.8 million new vehicles sold in 2025. China’s home market took 27.3 million, more than America, India and Japan combined. China also shipped 7.1 million abroad. Only two countries bought more than that. |
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Source: OICA, new-vehicle sales and registrations (all types), 2025, published April 2026. China: CAAM domestic sales, exports excluded. |
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| What's Surprising |
OICA’s own table puts China at 34.4 million. That figure includes 7.1 million cars and trucks China exported, so we took them out. What is left, 27.3 million, is still 1.6 times the American market.
The exports are the story. Through September this year, China shipped 8.2 million vehicles abroad, up 66%. That already beats all of 2025. At home, sales are falling. In September, domestic passenger-car sales dropped 27%.
India is third at 5.5 million. In 2019 it bought 3.8 million, fewer than Japan or Germany. It passed Japan in 2022. Since 2019, India’s market has grown 45%. Japan’s has shrunk 12%.
| What's Not Surprising |
The rich world still buys fewer vehicles than it did before the pandemic. Germany is down 20% on 2019. France is down 26%. Italy, 18%. America, 5%. Europe’s EU, EFTA and UK markets bought 15.5 million in 2025, against 18.4 million in 2019.
Electrification widens the gap. Of the vehicles Chinese carmakers sold in 2025, 47.9% were electric or plug-in hybrid. That is 16.5 million vehicles, almost the size of the entire US market.
Africa is the smallest market and the fastest-growing one. The whole continent bought 1.29 million new vehicles in 2025, fewer than Italy. That was still up 22% in a year.
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7.1 million Vehicles China exported in 2025. Counted as a country, that would be the world’s third-biggest car market, ahead of India. |
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47.9% Share of China’s 2025 new-vehicle sales that were electric or plug-in hybrid. In September 2026 it hit 61.6%. |
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17 Consecutive years China has been the world’s biggest car market. It took the title from the United States in 2009. |
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−19% Russia’s new-vehicle market in 2025, down from 1.83 million to 1.49 million. It fell out of the top ten, to 13th. |
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1.29 million New vehicles sold across all of Africa in 2025. Italy alone bought 1.75 million. |
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China’s home market is shrinking in 2026. Since January, buyers pay a 5% purchase tax on electric cars, and trade-in subsidies are smaller. Exports are filling the gap. CAAM expects them to reach 10 million this year. Its October figures land next month. OICA publishes the 2026 country table next spring. The question is how far China’s home market can fall before exports stop covering the gap. We’ll be watching. |
