September narrow-sense passenger car retail is expected at 1.69 million, a 9.7% monthly increase, but still down 24.6% year-on-year; in the same period, Hyper AION terminal sales were 35,494 vehicles, surging 21.91% year-on-year, marking 7 consecutive months of positive growth.

Between a drop and a rise, the scissors difference exceeds 46 percentage points. In 2026 when "Golden September" is no longer golden and the entire industry is shouting about involution, the real highlight of this report card is not the absolute value of 35,494, but the upward curve it draws against the market trend.

Many people only look at year-on-year growth rate for sales, but in this year's coordinate system, this number needs to be re-weighed.

Industry base in last September was as high as 2.241 million units, a "pulse high point" of concentrated policy stimulus. This year, most car companies saw negative growth in the face of this high base, achieving parity was already difficult, and positive growth is more like a "luxury". Hyper AION not only achieved positive growth but did so for 7 consecutive months — this means it did not rely on a single hit product explosion, nor did it rely on a wave of price cuts for short-term volume, but rather a systematic stabilization and recovery.

A key variable is the BU system reform. This matter is not discussed much outside, but looking from the inflection point of the sales curve, the organizational structure adjustment brings faster decision-making, product response speed, and front-line authorization, which are being converted into terminal competitiveness. This is typical "internal strength monetization". Not relying on marketing gimmicks, but using mechanisms to sell cars.

Looking closely at the structure of 35,494 units, you will find AION is walking a path different from most new forces.

AION i60 is the sample most worth deconstructing: users broke 100,000 less than a year after launch, September 2027 Model refresh, monthly orders broke 20,000. Even more interesting is its upgrade logic — rear-placed charging port, added 66L frunk, all improvements "scolded" out by owners in comments sections and car enthusiast groups. The industry calls it "listen-to-advice upgrade", essentially using rapid iteration to hedge development cycles.

When many new cars in the industry are still "sharpening a sword for three years, outdated once finished", AION treats big single products like phones: OTA-style model iterations, function additions/deletions based on real user feedback, polishing 100k-level SUVs as 200k-level experiences. This breaks an industry curse, that is the "death valley" effect where new cars reach their peak at launch and quickly marginalize after six months.

AION N60, on the other hand, fills another dimension: users broke 20,000 in 5 months after launch, won the 100k–130k LiDAR sales championship for 5 consecutive months, and even defeated 300k–500k level high-end models in Guiyang and Shenyang intelligent driving competitions. The signal sent is clear, high-end intelligent driving is no longer a "profit privilege" of new forces, it is becoming standard for 100k-level family sedans. When LiDAR and L4 source-intelligent driving are downgraded to mainstream price points, the competitive rules of the entire market will be rewritten.

2027 Model AION RT achieved Guinness-level electricity consumption of 8.571kWh/100km, behind it is that 0.025mm thick amorphous alloy thin strip — jointly tackled by CAS Dongguan Materials Institute and GAC, the craft also entered the National "Prohibited and Restricted Export Technology Catalog", winning the 2025 Global New Energy Vehicle Unique Power System Innovation Award.

The strategic significance of this is far greater than a Guinness record: this technology has been downgraded from "flagship exclusive" to volume models like N60, 2027 Model i60. In the past, domestic brands talked about technology, used to building million-level concept cars to show muscles; GAC walked the opposite road — scaling top technology onto 100k-unit level vehicles, letting 100k buyers enjoy it.

This is the true meaning of the four words "Technology for All".

If i60 and N60 are the base, then Ray7 and Hyper S600 represent the ambition for upward breakthrough.

Ray7 bets on young driving control groups — 299 yuan deposit locks 8,999 yuan benefits, RC Club car play community, drift courses, this approach obviously targets the performance car circle; Huawei DriveONE full set drive system, aluminum-hybrid double wishbone + 5-link, WeRide L4 source-intelligent driving, parameter list has touched the threshold of 300k-level performance cars.

Hyper S600 targets the vacancy of "only 4WD dual-chamber air suspension within 200k" — air suspension was a tag of 500k-level luxury cars in the past, now pulled to 200k range, still standard with LiDAR and over 140 configurations. This is typical "dimensionality reduction attack": using higher-level chassis configurations to fight traditional fuel SUVs and regular pure electric SUVs.

The outward story is equally key: landing in Singapore, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Greece 2nd in pure electric in July, 3rd in August. When domestic competition reaches the extreme, overseas markets have changed from "optional" to "growth poles". Both domestic and overseas pull simultaneously, can hedge single market cyclical fluctuations.

Of course, counter-trend growth does not mean rest assured. Standing at the node of 35,494 vehicles, there are three questions worth asking:

First, where is the ceiling of scale? 35,000 monthly sales belong to the top of the second echelon in the domestic new energy camp, but compared to top car companies with monthly sales of 50,000+, AION needs new products like Ray7, Hyper S600 to quickly take over to truly join the first echelon, instead of relying on "60 Twin Stars" to walk on one leg.

Second, Second, how long can "not fighting price wars" hold? Not relying on short-term price volume, relying on value to break through. This is good, but industry price war intensity has not decreased, when competitors push configurations and prices down another level, whether the moat of technology inclusion can continue to deepen is the next test.

Third, can the reputation of 2 million users be guarded? The faster the big single product sells volume, the greater the pressure on quality consistency and after-sales service network. The SOE system support is an advantage, but how to not dilute brand texture in rapid expansion requires system capability upgrade synchronously.

The National Day Golden Week is the next window to observe the car market.

Hyper AION threw out the policy package — AION up to 8,000 yuan trade-in subsidy, 10,000 compulsory traffic insurance draws; Hyper full series comprehensive discount up to 75,000 yuan, 100% win rate — looks like regular peak season moves, but placed under the momentum of "7 consecutive months counter-trend growth", it is more like pursuing victory, rather than polishing weapons at the last minute.

In the era of washing sand in the car market, consumers will ultimately vote with real money to two types of car companies: one type relies on "long-termists" whose product power evolves continuously, the other type relies on "quick-fix players" harvesting traffic with short-term gimmicks. This 35,494 unit scorecard in September proves at least one thing. Only car companies that can still gain growth share when the overall market is down truly possess the confidence to cross the cycle.

As for whether this confidence can continue to Q4, whether it can truly plate "Silver October" into silver, we will see the result in October sales ranking.