Trading Over 20 Million Used Cars Annually with an Average Price of 64,000 Yuan per Car: Are New Energy Used Cars Easy to Sell? – 36氪
In 2025, the scale of China’s used car transactions expanded again with the development of the automotive industry.
According to data recently released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, from January to December 2025, the cumulative domestic used car transactions reached 20.108 million vehicles for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%, setting a new record. Among them, the annual transactions of new energy used cars reached 1.6 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 42.5%; the transaction scale accounted for 7.9% of the total annual transactions, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%.
△Source: Photo taken by a reporter from Time Weekly
The expansion of transaction volume promoted the increase of transaction amount: In 2025, the cumulative domestic used car transaction amount was 1.28979 trillion yuan, compared with 1.28521 trillion yuan in the same period of the previous year.
The China Automobile Dealers Association stated that in 2025, the overall operation of the used car market showed a trend of “low at first, then high, and recovering with fluctuations”. In the first half of the year, affected by the frequent price fluctuations in the new car market, the monthly transaction volume decreased continuously on a month-on-month basis; in the second half of the year, as the prices in the new car market gradually stabilized, consumers’ confidence in buying cars recovered, and the market activity increased significantly, especially the month-on-month increase in December was particularly significant.
In addition to the transaction volume exceeding 20 million vehicles for the first time, the increase in the transaction volume of new energy used cars is also a key highlight. When reporters from Time Weekly visited offline used car markets, they also found that compared with two or three years ago, the number and transaction volume of new energy used cars were increasing significantly, becoming a new variable driving the increase in used car transaction volume.
Due to factors such as the nascent stage of the industry and relatively unstable value retention rates, new energy vehicles have not been popular in the used car market for a long time. Between 2023 and 2024, reporters from Time Weekly visited offline used car markets many times, but at that time, except for popular models of brands such as BYD, Tesla, and Li Auto, there were few new energy used cars in the offline market.
By the end of 2025, this phenomenon had improved significantly – in used car markets or stores in many places such as Beijing and Guangzhou, the number of new energy vehicle brands and models had increased. Models of brands such as NIO, Leapmotor, XPeng Motors, and Xiaomi Auto were becoming more common in the used car market. Some industry insiders told reporters from Time Weekly that the transaction volume of these new energy used cars was also increasing.
Overall, in many used car stores, the purchase and transaction volume of new energy vehicles had increased to some extent compared with before, and the turnover cycle had also decreased to some extent. Except for relatively unpopular brands or models, the performance of mainstream new energy used cars was gradually improving.
“In 2025, the supply – demand relationship in the new energy used car market continued to improve, the transaction proportion increased steadily, and the value retention rate also bottomed out and rebounded.” Tiantian Paiche, a leading domestic used car trading platform, analyzed to reporters. The trading report of Tiantian Paiche showed that in 2025, the price decline of new energy used cars also showed signs of narrowing, which improved their value retention rate and attractiveness to some extent.
Under the influence of multiple factors, the annual transaction volume of new energy used cars in 2025 reached 1.6 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 42.5%, far exceeding the overall market increase. In 2025, the transaction volume of new energy used cars accounted for 7.9% of the total, an increase of 2.2% compared with the same period.
It is worth noting that the monthly proportion of new energy used cars with a vehicle age of less than two years in the transaction volume exceeded 40%, far exceeding the overall level. This means that the replacement ratio of new energy vehicle owners is relatively high, which also indirectly promotes the expansion of the new energy used car market.
However, the transaction volume of new energy used cars still lags far behind that of fuel – powered used cars. In this regard, Luo Lei, the vice – president of the circulation association, emphasized that all parties should strengthen cooperation, open up relevant data on power batteries, and establish a data sharing mechanism to facilitate the circulation of new energy used cars.
Overall, Luo Lei believes that with the continuous increase in the ownership of new energy vehicles and the stable and high growth of new energy vehicles, China’s new energy used cars will continue to maintain a high – growth trend and become an important growth point in the used car market.
In 2025, China’s used car market also showed three other major characteristics:
First, the trend of cross – regional circulation continued to strengthen.
Taking December 2025 as an example, the transfer rate of used cars in that month climbed to 34.9%, a year – on – year increase of 4.7%. The increase in cross – regional circulation vitality not only effectively released the circulation value of used cars but also relieved the inventory pressure of local dealers. This is due to a number of policies introduced by China’s Ministry of Commerce and other departments to promote the circulation of used cars.
At the same time, the average transaction price of used cars began to stabilize and rebound. Association data showed that in December 2025, the average transaction price of used cars was 64,500 yuan, a month – on – month increase of 400 yuan and a year – on – year increase of 1,400 yuan. The stable operation of the average price reflects that the market supply – demand structure is relatively balanced, and the industry development is more mature and rational. In 2025 as a whole, the average price of used cars was 64,100 yuan.
In addition, a survey by the circulation association showed that the inventory management level of used car dealers was also continuously optimized. Compared with two years ago when frequent price cuts in the new car market made it difficult for used car dealers to accurately grasp pricing, inventory, and turnover cycles, most current car dealers have gradually established a concept of refined operation. By reasonably controlling inventory levels and inventory cycles, they can improve capital turnover efficiency and reduce business risks.
Especially as the rectification of the “involution – style competition” in the new car market in the second half of 2025 began to take effect, the used car market began to show a stable and healthy development trend, providing conditions for the annual used car transaction volume to exceed 20 million vehicles. At the same time, according to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, the national car ownership reached 366 million in 2025, which laid the foundation for the increase in the used car transaction scale.
“According to the ratio of car ownership to used car transactions in developed countries, China already has the market foundation for the used car transaction volume to exceed 20 million vehicles. Reaching 20 million vehicles this time is an inevitable result of the gradual improvement of market maturity.” In Luo Lei’s view, the large stock base provides sufficient vehicle sources for the development of the used car market, and the circular linkage mechanism between the new and used car markets is gradually taking shape.
In the view of industry insiders, as the effectiveness of the governance of the involution – style competition in the automotive industry gradually emerges, coupled with the in – depth implementation of the trade – in policy, the prices in the new car market are expected to remain stable in 2026, which will create a more favorable development environment for the used car market. It is expected that the annual transaction scale will continue to expand steadily.
This article is from the WeChat official account “Time Weekly” (ID: timeweekly), author: Wu Kai. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.
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