Three Chinese Automakers Rank Among World's Top 10 by Sales, BYD Takes Sixth Place

China Automobile Dealers Association Secretary-General Cui Dongshu recently revealed that three Chinese automakers simultaneously entered the global top 10 automotive manufacturer sales rankings for the first time in the first half of 2026 — marking a historic breakthrough in Chinese brands' globalization.

According to data provided by Cui Dongshu, BYD captured 4.8% of global market share, ranking sixth — up sharply from just 0.6% in 2016. Notably, its full-year 2025 global market share reached 5.4%, while the first half of 2026 saw a slight dip; during the same period, BYD delivered 795,169 units domestically — a 45.9% year-on-year decline, per the *China EV DataTracker* report, reflecting temporary pressure on its domestic sales performance.

GEELY Holdings ranked seventh with 4.6% global market share, up significantly from 1.5% in 2016. This figure includes all controlled brands under GEELY: Volvo, Smart, Polestar, Lotus, and Proton.

Chery Automobile claimed ninth place (tied) with 4.1% global market share — matching Ford — and remains China's largest automobile exporter. Ten years ago (in 2016), its global share stood at only 0.8%. Among other Chinese automakers, SAIC Motor Group ranked eleventh with 3.7%; Changan Automobile (1.9%) and Great Wall Motors Automobile (1.8%) placed seventeenth and eighteenth respectively; BAIC (1.2%) and Dongfeng (1.1%) ranked twenty-first and twenty-third.

The top of the ranking remains dominated by Japanese, German, and Korean OEMs: TOYOTA leads with 11%, followed by Volkswagen (8.1%) and HyundaiKia (7.6%). Stellantis (6%) and RenaultNissan (5.4%) rank fourth and fifth. General Motors ranks eighth with 4.5%, while Tesla sits sixteenth with 2.1%.