CPCA links AI memory squeeze to China's 28% September retail slump
A commentary published via TMTPost reports that China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data show September 2026 passenger car retail sales of 1.618 million units, down 28.0% year on year — the year's largest monthly decline and, the article says, the biggest September drop since CPCA began compiling the series. The piece says the CPCA monthly report used unusually blunt language about a weak peak season and shrinking fuel-car demand, and that it linked slower launches of new energy models to memory and chip price surges and tight supply driven by the AI industry chain — which the article describes as the first time CPCA has tied AI supply-chain competition to weak domestic retail. It also cites October 1–11 retail of 459,000 units, down 24%, a 67.0% NEV retail penetration record, a 43% drop in fuel-car retail, and exports of 917,000 units, up 73.7%.
The article argues that AI data-center demand is crowding automakers out of memory supply — citing an industry estimate that autos account for under 5% of global memory purchases versus nearly 50% for AI data centers — turning chip costs into a reported constraint on new-model rollouts.
（本文作者为 观潮新消费，钛媒体经授权发布）
文 | 观潮新消费
2026年9月，车市的“金九”没来。
据乘联分会数据，2026年9月全国乘用车市场零售161.8万辆，同比下降28.0%，这是年内最大单月同比降幅，也是乘联会（现乘联分会）开展该零售数据统计以来，历年9月中最高同比跌幅。
乘联分会在月报中采用的措辞相对激烈，称今年9月最突出的特征是“旺季不旺”，传统“金九”成色严重不足，燃油车需求持续剧烈萎缩，9月成为本轮车市零售降幅异常突出的月份。
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