If a car model doesn't undergo a generational update for six or seven years, with sales plummeting by 95%, can well-known automakers survive after exiting China?

Ask AI · Why are brands like Škoda collectively retreating in the era of electrification?

Text | Grace

Editor | Yang Buding

On March 26th, an official response from Volkswagen Group settled long-standing rumors: Škoda will continue sales in China until mid-2026, after which it will exit the Chinese market. Founded in 1895, one of the oldest car manufacturers in the world, after 20 years of deep cultivation in China, has chosen to say goodbye.

Škoda’s departure was not surprising. Before Volkswagen Group officially announced it, this Czech brand had already disappeared from the Chinese market for a long time.

In the past decade, more than ten international car brands such as Mitsubishi, Renault, Suzuki, Acura, Jeep, and others have successively exited China. They were once the “first car” for many Chinese owners, but now these names are gradually fading from streets and alleys.

Why did these brands, which once carried countless memories for owners, collectively stumble? Who will be the next to withdraw?

Nearly 10 automakers退出中国 in ten years

This farewell process began as early as ten years ago. In 2015, Opel officially exited the Chinese market. During that era when joint venture brands were booming, the departure of a European brand did not cause much ripple. Ten years later, Škoda became the latest on this long list.

Škoda officially entered China in 2006, quickly gaining market share with its “affordable German” positioning. At its peak in 2018, Škoda’s sales in China reached 341k units, making China its largest single market globally at the time, with over 500 dealerships.

The turning point came suddenly. Starting in 2019, its sales declined consecutively, and by 2025, only 15k units remained, a drop of over 95% from its peak, with market share below 0.1%. The once “sales pillar” models like Octavia, Rapid, and Kodiaq gradually faded from consumer memory.

The story of Mitsubishi is equally lamentable. As early as the 1970s, Mitsubishi began exporting light commercial vehicles to China. In the 1990s, Mitsubishi targeted the passenger car market, partnering with Changfeng and BAIC, producing a series of classic models, and also engaging in engine business, helping brands like Great Wall, BYD, and Geely start up.

In 2012, GAC Mitsubishi’s joint venture was officially established, riding the SUV wave, with the Pajero “Shanmao” becoming a symbol of rugged off-road vehicles domestically. In 2018, GAC Mitsubishi’s annual sales soared to 144k units, but then plummeted sharply, and by the end of 2023, it officially exited. By 2025, Mitsubishi’s engine joint venture in China also closed, and all automotive-related operations in China were wiped out.

Over these ten years, Suzuki, Acura, Fiat, DS, Jeep, Renault, and others have also successively ended their joint ventures in China. Some parted ways amicably, others tore their faces. Regardless of the frustration, the Chinese market only leaves them with a farewell song — wanting to stay but unable to, that’s the loneliest.

Behind the retreat: three “fatal” commonalities

Although their development trajectories in China differ, these退出品牌 share common traits — they once thrived during the boom of fuel vehicles and SUVs, watched the rise of new energy passively, and disappeared completely after electrification became mainstream.

Summarizing their three fatal flaws: First is reliance on old capital. They all once made huge profits in China based on sentimentality, believing that mastering core fuel vehicle technology would keep them worry-free, but lacked localization, disconnected from Chinese consumer needs, with most models unchanged for six or seven years.

While these joint venture cars were counting their money, Chinese brands rose rapidly, increasing自主研发 efforts, mastering core technologies, and significantly shortening new car iteration cycles, widening the gap.

By 2025, domestic自主品牌 market share reached 64.6%, while joint venture brands fell to 35.4%. Five years ago, joint ventures still held an absolute dominant position with 64.3%.

Second is collective lag in electrification transformation. China’s new energy vehicle market exploded, with penetration surpassing 50% in 2025. Nearly two-thirds of global new energy vehicles are sold in China, but these退出品牌 almost without exception responded slowly to this trend.

Take GAC Mitsubishi as an example. In 2018, under pressure from dual credits, they remade GAC Trumpchi GS4 into the Qizhi PHEV, even without Mitsubishi branding. In 2022, they launched their first pure electric model, Artuc, which was essentially a rebadged GAC自主品牌, sold at a higher price, with monthly sales only in double digits.

Third is internal “discarded child” positioning within the group. Many退出品牌 played the role of “low-end volume sellers” within their automotive groups, such as Škoda in Volkswagen Group. In the era of incremental markets, this positioning could survive, but in the phase of stock competition, group resources inevitably tilt toward more profitable, stronger brands, making退出 logical.

After leaving China: global strategic reorganization

However, leaving China does not mean these brands are finished; it’s just a step in their global strategic adjustment. And even after exiting the Chinese market, most brands are still doing well.

After Škoda exited China, its focus shifted to India and Southeast Asia. Despite poor performance in China in recent years, growth in other regions compensated. In 2025, Škoda became the third best-selling brand in Europe for the first time, with record sales in India, and strong growth in North Africa and Turkey.

In 2025, Škoda’s global sales surged 12.7% to 341k units, breaking the million mark for the first time. Its electrification transformation is also gaining momentum, with pure electric sales soaring 119.8%, plug-in hybrids up 108.6%, and new electric models coming soon.

Many brands that exited earlier, like Suzuki and Mitsubishi, had already shifted focus away from China. “King of small cars” Suzuki realized Chinese consumers prefer larger vehicles, so it heavily bet on India, where it holds over 40% market share, with global sales rising to 3.3 million in 2025.

Mitsubishi, in its “2030 Vision” released in 2020, indicated its operations had shifted to Southeast Asia and Oceania. But in the past year, Mitsubishi’s situation worsened: US sales plummeted, and in Southeast Asia, Chinese brands like BYD and MG encroached, cutting market share from 12% to 6%.

Of course, some brands no longer sell cars in China but maintain close ties with Chinese automakers. Renault ended its fuel passenger car business in China in 2020, but over the past five years, it has established joint ventures with Geely for power solutions, cooperated with WeRide on L4 autonomous shuttles, and used South American capacity to OEM for Geely and Chery, deepening its ties with Chinese automakers.

In early March this year, Renault announced a new strategy “futuREady,” emphasizing its positioning as a “R&D and cost control hub” for China, meaning Renault plans to fully leverage China’s mature EV and smart tech supply chain to empower overseas markets. The Twingo E-Tech, developed in China in just 22 months, benefits from Chinese procurement, reducing per-vehicle costs by 400 euros.

Thus, a common pattern emerges among these退出品牌: they proactively abandon the fiercely competitive Chinese market, shifting focus to emerging markets like India, ASEAN, and Eastern Europe, where electrification is slower, fuel vehicle demand remains stable, and competition is less intense.

These multinational brands shrink their global footprint, concentrate resources on advantageous markets and core technologies, and no longer pursue “full bloom,” but rather “single-point breakthroughs.” Meanwhile, China’s market has shifted from being just a “sales market” to a “R&D/supply chain base” for them.

Who’s next?

After Škoda, other potential退出品牌 are those second-tier joint ventures and fringe luxury brands whose operations in China have become virtually defunct. Over the past two years, they have mostly been absent from major domestic auto shows and have not launched new models for years, with sales shrinking rapidly.

The most vocal among them is Chevrolet. According to Chevrolet’s official website, of the eight models currently on sale, only four still have sales data available as of February 2026. Except for the Malibu XL, with over 100 units sold, the others—Trailblazer, Equinox, and others—are in the single digits. The last facelift for models like Cruze, Malibu XL, and Trailblazer was in 2023.

Currently, Chevrolet’s official website in Beijing shows only one authorized dealer, one in Guangzhou, and just four in Shanghai, its main base. Its official social media accounts have been inactive for over a year, and Chevrolet was absent from the Shanghai Auto Show in 2025. At the SAIC-GM dealer partner summit earlier this year, SAIC-GM announced its three-year strategic plan but did not mention Chevrolet.

SAIC-GM’s joint venture contract expires in June 2027, and a renewal has not been officially announced. Internally, the profit core is Cadillac, with Buick as the volume backbone. Chevrolet’s positioning is below Buick, and as Buick continues to expand downward, Chevrolet’s survival space is being squeezed. It’s highly likely that renewal negotiations will lead to abandonment.

The退出 of brands like Škoda, Mitsubishi, Renault is not “xenophobia” in China, but an inevitable result of China’s auto industry shifting from “high-speed growth” to “high-quality development.” China has become the main battlefield for global electrification and intelligence. Only brands that are truly localized, rapidly iterative, and embrace electrification can survive.

For multinational automakers, China is no longer a “free lunch,” but a “battlefield of the strong.” The global strategic adjustments of退出 brands are essentially “stop-loss” and “focus,” but abandoning China—the world’s largest and most dynamic market—also means giving up future growth potential.

Markets will not wait for any brand. This is the law of China’s auto market, and also an unchanging survival rule amid the century-long upheaval of the global automotive industry.