When we first laid eyes on it, we didn’t give the Nissan N7 the kindest of receptions, calling it a straight-up copy of the Xpeng P7. As it turns out, Chinese buyers clearly didn’t have a problem with its looks; they voted with their wallets and made the N7 the most popular foreign-brand car model last month.

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The N7 sedan scored 6,189 sales in June in a tight battle where the top three models were closely matched, and everyone else was two laps behind, so to speak. Buick’s GL8 New energy minivan was right on the N7’s tail, eventually recording 6,082 sales, while Toyota’s bargain-priced Platinum 3X, also known as the bZ3X, found 6,030 buyers.

Tight Competition at the Top

Trailing well behind in fourth place was Volkswagen’s ID.3 with 3,950 sales, according to data from China’s Autohome, and there was another big drop to the fifth-placed Smart #1, which 2,324 buyers took home. BMW’s i3, an electric sedan similar in shape to the N7, proved far less popular. Only 2,270 people snapped up one of those in June.

Though the Maxima-sized N7 wears Nissan badges it’s actually the result of a joint venture between the struggling Japanese company and China’s Dongfeng, and shares components with Dongfeng eπ 007. For a tempting 129,900 yuan, or roughly $17,800, the base N7 510 Pro comes with a 58 kWh LFP battery claims 317 miles (510 km) of range on the Chinese CLTC cycle.

CHINA’S FOREIGN BRAND BEST SELLERS

At the other end of the scale, the N7 625 Max features a much fuller list of standard equipment and a 73 kWh battery that claims a 388-mile (625 km) range. Bear in mind, though, that this is according to China’s testing standards, so take the range claims with a large pinch of salt.

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Power output varies by trim. Buyers can choose between 215 hp (218 PS / 160 kW) or 268 hp (272 PS / 200 kW), with pricing and performance adjusted accordingly. Demographics for the N7 skew young and family-oriented: 68 percent of buyers are men, 74 percent are married, and 60 percent are under 35, according to figures released by Nissan.

Currently, the N7 is a China-only model, but Nissan has already confirmed it’s exploring international markets. A global launch could be on the table under a different name, potentially reviving the old Primera badge. Just don’t expect to see it on American roads anytime soon.

Nissan

We’ve been hearing a lot about how tough the Chinese market is for long-established brands that are familiar to us in the West. Automakers like VW, Porsche and Mercedes have all suffered big sales slides in China, but Toyota has proved that’s it’s still possible to beat the increasingly competitive domestic brands at their own game.

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The bZ3X is an electric SUV built by a joint venture between Toyota and China’s GAC and it’s been selling like crazy following its debut four months ago. More than 200,000 examples have been delivered since March, GAC Toyota wrote on China’s Weibo social media platform, and the company also mentioned it had received over 30,000 orders.

A Price That Turns Heads

So how did Toyota manage to win where many other legacy brands have failed? One reason is the bZ3X’s incredibly competitive sticker. Prices for the electric SUV start at 109,800 yuan, or roughly $15,000 at current exchange rates. That makes it less than half the price of the GAC Toyota Highlander, which starts at 284,800 yuan ($39,300), and also undercuts the 171,800 yuan ($23,700) Camry.

Naturally, you’re not getting a fully-loaded, long-range EV for for your $15k, though versions with Lidar-based ADAS are available. The base bZ3X, the 430 Air, comes with a small 50 kWh battery that’s rated at 267 miles (430 km) on the generous Chinese CTLC cycle, but probably only offers 200 miles (320 km) of real range.

For a few yuan more, the 430 Air+ adds extra equipment but retains the base model’s battery, and the 58 kWh 520 Pro and Pro+ stretch the range to 323 miles (520 km) while still using the same single 201 hp (204 PS / 150 kW) electric motor as the lower-tier versions.

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Top of the tree is the 610 Max, which gets a bump to 221 hp (224 PS / 165 kW) and promises 379 miles (610 km) of range from its 68 kWh pack. But even that flagship trim will only set you back ¥159,800 (~$22,000).

Momentum Beyond a Single Model

The bZ3X isn’t the only GAC Toyota performing well in China. The joint venture’s total sales reached 364,218 in the first six months of 2025, and importantly they were up 5.6 percent, making the company one of the few similar collabs to make gains.

Camry sales were up 66 percent to 20,358 in June, Ziniu News reports, and the company’s Saina minivan registered 8,846 deliveries in the first half of the year, up 16 percent.

GAC Toyota