At a Changan Automobile factory, workers operate on the chassis assembly line. (Photo/Zhang Jinhui)

Chongqing – Changan Automobile has released its April delivery figures, showing steady growth, with new energy vehicles (NEVs) and overseas markets driving momentum.

In April, Changan delivered 209,500 vehicles, up 1.7% year-on-year. NEV deliveries reached 94,200 units, a 32.2% increase, while overseas sales surged 69.9% to 72,700 units.

Changan’s three NEV brands all performed strongly. Deepal sold 33,187 units, up 64.8%, with the Deepal S05 averaging more than 10,000 units per month and pushing cumulative brand sales past 200,000 units. Avatr delivered 5,279 vehicles, supported by new model launches and the Asia debut of its VISION XPECTRA concept car at Auto China 2026, reinforcing its high-end market presence. Qiyuan deliveries reached 32,118 units.

To accelerate NEV brand growth, Changan announced a coordinated integration of Deepal and Avatr. While maintaining independent market positioning, customer engagement, and front-end sales operations, the brands will share R&D, supply chain, and manufacturing resources. 

Changan aims to build a global mid-to-high-end brand group with annual sales exceeding 1.5 million units, with overseas markets accounting for more than 40%.

That ambition is being driven largely by rapid overseas expansion. Since launching its global strategy in 2023, Changan’s overseas sales have grown steadily, reaching 358,000 units in 2023, 536,000 in 2024, and 637,000 in 2025 — a total of 1.531 million units over three years. At Auto China 2026, the company further raised its global ambitions, unveiling plans to double overseas sales to 1.5 million units by 2030, with a stretch target of 1.8 million units.

Weak domestic passenger car demand is pushing Changan and other Chinese automakers to expand abroad. Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Passenger Car Association, noted that retail sales in China fell 18% year-on-year to 5.628 million units from January to April 2026, while exports rose 52% to 3.28 million units, a recent high.

Sales remain a key benchmark for automaker performance, especially as competition in the global auto industry intensifies. Speaking at Changan’s April global strategy launch, Chairman Zhu Huarong said the industry is entering a “survival of the strongest” phase that will play out over the next three to five years.

He outlined that annual sales of 8–10 million units denote industry leadership, 5–7 million indicate stable survival, and 3–3.5 million reflect basic survival, emphasizing the need for higher growth targets. Changan aims to become a “world-class automotive group,” targeting 4 million global sales by 2030, with a stretch goal of more than 5 million.

Based on Changan’s 2025 total sales of 2.913 million units, achieving 4 million sales within five years would require a compound annual growth rate of more than 6%, while reaching 5 million would require average annual growth above 11%.

Financially, Changan reported declines in the first quarter of 2026. Revenue fell 4.26% year-on-year to 32.71 billion yuan (USD 4.81 billion), while net profit attributable to shareholders dropped 74.09% to 351 million yuan.