China's growing market for services throughout a vehicle's life cycle is opening fresh opportunities to expand domestic demand, as an aging fleet and the shift to electric mobility create needs extending well beyond the showroom.
The market could exceed 10 trillion yuan ($1.5 trillion) by 2030, up from an estimated 7.2 trillion yuan in 2025, according to a recent industry white paper jointly released by the China Automobile Dealers Association, China Automotive Technology and Research Center and automotive platform Dongchedi.
The report provides the first clear definition of the automotive consumption services sector's scope, dividing it into vehicle transaction services, covering new car selection and purchase as well as used-car trading and aftermarket services that support vehicle ownership, including maintenance, charging, finance, insurance, customization and automotive culture.
"Automotive consumption services span both producer and consumer services and constitute a strategic, integrated industry for expanding domestic demand, stabilizing employment and improving people's quality of life," said Huang Yonghe, a former senior chief expert at the CATARC.
For the automotive industry, the foundation is the vast number of vehicles already in use. Ministry of Public Security figures show that China had 371 million automobiles by the end of June 2026, including 48.97 million new energy vehicles, or 13.2 percent of the total.
In this regard, the average age of passenger cars in China reached about 7.3 years in 2025, with vehicles aged seven years or older accounting for more than half of the fleet, driving growing demand for services for vehicles already in use, the report said.
Older vehicles sustain demand for repairs and replacement parts, while electrification creates additional business in battery diagnostics, charging equipment maintenance and software services.
The country's automotive maintenance and repair market generated approximately 1.15 trillion yuan in output in 2025. Services for NEVs contributed about 90.4 billion yuan, lifting their share to roughly 8 percent, according to the white paper.
"As China's auto market enters a new stage in which both new vehicle sales and the existing vehicle fleet are driving growth, the automotive value chain is increasingly extending beyond manufacturing into downstream services," said Song Yingjie, assistant to the president at the CADA.
Yet turning demand into spending requires better services. In the report's NEV service survey, about 82 percent of respondents cited too few service outlets, long distances or lengthy waits among the problems they encountered. Unclear charges and technicians' unfamiliarity with electric powertrains and intelligent systems were also prominent concerns.
To address these gaps, the report highlights a shift toward preventive maintenance, using vehicle data for remote monitoring, fault prediction and early risk warnings. Nearly 60 percent of surveyed users expressed willingness to adopt such services, which could help identify problems earlier, improve maintenance efficiency and enhance the ownership experience.
The findings come as China seeks to expand and improve its service sector during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). A guideline issued by the State Council in April set a goal for the service sector's scale to reach 100 trillion yuan by 2030. The document was followed by another move in June, when nine departments announced 17 measures to develop the automotive aftermarket, including repair services, vehicle customization and recreational vehicle camping.
lijiaying@chinadaily.com.cn
