Cui Dongshu: By the end of February 2026, the national passenger car industry had 3.33 million vehicles in stock, with a 60-day supply.

Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, stated in a document that by the end of February 2026, the national inventory of passenger cars in the country was 3.33 million vehicles, a decrease of 240,000 vehicles from the previous month and an increase of 250,000 vehicles from February 2025. This has formed a good trend of controlled and decreasing inventory. The association's forecast team had an initial optimism of 5% in early February 2026, but the satisfaction rate in early March after February dropped to 40%, with lower expectations but improved satisfaction. The team's optimism towards the February market has risen to 23%, which is still relatively low compared to recent market optimism levels, and they are hoping for further efforts in subsidies from certain regions. Inventory support for future days is calculated based on the monthly retail forecasts for N+3 in the future, so it is not fixed data for the current month, and inventory days will also change with forecast adjustments. The industry's inventory days in the fourth quarter of 2025 actually fell below expectations, with the peak inventory days rising to 79 days, followed by a significant reduction in production. Based on the end-of-February 2026 inventory and the current inventory support for future sales days estimated from future sales, the inventory support for future sales is estimated to be 60 days, compared to 62 days in February 2023, 50 days in February 2024, and 64 days in February 2025, showing a relative improvement in overall inventory pressure this February. Looking at the characteristics of inventory changes in only new energy vehicle manufacturers, with the promotion of anti-overwork measures, the industry's inventory decreased to 620,000 vehicles in September 2025, but rose to 680,000 vehicles in February 2026, a decrease of 100,000 vehicles from the peak inventory in November 2025, but an increase of 20,000 vehicles from December. Recently, the inventory of manufacturers and channels of new energy dealers has faced significant pressure as market retail has been lower than expected.