The China Automobile Dealers Association said its dealer inventory warning index
was 63.2% in September 2026, up 8.7 ppt YoY and 0.9 ppt MoM, remaining above the
50-point neutral threshold. Survey results: 54.2% of dealers said the
traditional "Golden September, Silver October" season was noticeably weaker than
prior years, 33.7% said the seasonality effect had essentially disappeared, and
3.6% said it was stronger. Despite concentrated new-model launches and heavier
dealer promotions in September, dealers reported promotions failed to materially
lift end-user sales. CADA estimates September passenger-vehicle retail volume at
about 1.65mln units.
