The Corolla Cross from Toyota was the only gasoline-powered vehicle to make it into China’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars for July, despite a decline in the company’s sales within the country.
In July, the Corolla Cross ranked eighth among the top 10 passenger vehicles by retail sales, with 14,510 units sold, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association, as reported by an automotive information platform. Its position jumped 28 spots compared to June. The remaining nine entries on the list were all new energy vehicles.
Leading the chart was Geely’s Xingyuan with 32,306 units sold, followed by Leapmotor’s A10 with 26,424 sales, and Tesla’s Model Y with 25,158 units. Notably, the Model Y was also the most expensive vehicle in the top 10, priced between 263,500 yuan (roughly USD 39,055) and 313,500 yuan.
Seven gasoline-powered models ranked among the 20 best-selling vehicles in July. Toyota held three spots, while Volkswagen and Geely, based in Hangzhou, each held two. The Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Lavida, which were both in the top 10 in June, slipped to 17th and 14th place, respectively.
The sales figures indicate that the entry threshold for the top 10 fell to 13,757 units in July, down from 15,444 in June. Similarly, the cutoff for the top 20 decreased to 10,820 vehicles from 13,798.
July is typically a slow period in the auto industry, as the momentum from June’s mid-year sales push wanes, leading to a market driven more by core demand, according to the association.
Battery electric and other new energy vehicles have demonstrated greater resilience compared to traditional fossil-fuel vehicles, experiencing smaller drops in sales both month-over-month and year-over-year. This trend has helped compensate for the decline in fuel-powered car sales and eased the downward pressure on overall retail figures, the association noted.