Themed "Transformation and Resilient Growth," the 2026 World NEV Congress signaled that the sector is moving from chasing scale and speed toward quality and efficiency.
In the first half of 2026, global NEV sales reached 11.234 million units (up 14%), with penetration around 24%. China's H1 sales were 7.446 million units (up 7.3%), penetration 49.6%, and exports 2.355 million units.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows the average profit margin of domestic vehicle manufacturing fell to 1.5% in H1 - a 10-year low - as product iteration accelerates and payback periods shorten.
Executives from Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW stressed shifting to high-quality development, value creation and quality-based competition, while industry leaders called for diversified technology routes - BEV, PHEV, EREV and hydrogen fuel cells.
