December was not as good for plug-in electric car sales in China as we thought it might be, but it was good enough for a new record.
According to EV Volumes' data, shared by Jose Pontes, some 671,450 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in December, which is 32 percent more than a year ago and the best result ever (after 636,223 units in September and 625,205 in November).
Interestingly, all-electric car registrations amounted to 471,000 (a few thousands less than in September). BEV registrations represented some 21 percent of the total car market.
Plug-in hybrid car sales were boosted by the end of local incentives in some Chinese cities, to about 200,000 units, so we might see a slowdown in this category in early 2023.
Results for the month:
- BEVs: about 471,000 (up 13%) and 21% share
- PHEVs: about 200,000 and 9% share
- Total: 671,450 (up 32%) and 30% share
Plug-in electric car sales in China – December 2022
In 2022, over 5.92 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China (83 percent more than in 2021), which is a new record. The result is really close to the China Passenger Car Association's (CPCA) forecast of some 6 million passenger plug-in electric cars in 2022.
Not only that, roughly 30 percent of all new cars in China (including microcars) were rechargeable, and 22 percent were all-electric. Just two years ago, BEVs barely exceeded 5 percent share.
- BEVs: about *4.35 million and 22% share
- PHEVs: about *1.58 million and 8% share
- Total: 5,924,421 (up 83%) and 30% share
* estimated from the market share
Model rank
China is clearly dominated by BYD, the world's largest plug-in electric car manufacturer (and the second largest all-electric car manufacturer - only behind Tesla).
The Chinese brand has put seven model families (BEV and PHEV counted together) in the top 10 list for the month, and six in the top 10 list for the year.
The top model in 2022 was the BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV) with massive result of 476,784 units (including over 70,000 in December).
The second most popular was the tiny Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV with 423,998 units (34,523 in December), while the Tesla Model Y managed to be third with 315,607 units (including 29,387 in December).
Top 10 for the month:
- BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV): 70,269
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 34,523
- BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): 30,043
- Tesla Model Y: 29,387
- BYD Dolphin: 26,074
- BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): 23,149
- BYD Yuan Plus BEV: 22,599
- BYD Tang (BEV + PHEV): 20,164
- BYD Seal: 15,378
- GAC Aion Y: 14,311
* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.
The results are really devastating for non-Chinese manufacturers, as only three electric cars in the top 20 (Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3 and Volkswagen ID.4) were non-Chinese (but all locally produced).
It might be the most important finding - the fast switch from internal combustion engine cars to all-electric cars will turn the entire car market upside down.
Top 10 year-to-date:
- BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV): 476,784
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 423,998
- Tesla Model Y: 315,607
- BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): 315,079
- BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): 269,691
- BYD Dolphin: 204,674
- BYD Yuan Plus BEV: 190,411
- BYD Tang (BEV + PHEV): 148,001
- Tesla Model 3: 125,361
- GAC Aion Y: 119,687
- GAC Aion S: 115,655
- Changan Benni EV: 97,173
- Chery QQ Ice Cream: 96,529
- Hozon Neta V EV: 95,553
- Chery eQ1 / Little Ant: 95,370
- Volkswagen ID.4: 81,672
- Li Xiang One EREV: 78,792
- Dongfeng Fengshen E-Series: 75,427
- Zeekr 001: 71,941
- Great Wall Ora Good Cat: 62,432
Brands
After 12 months of the year, BYD further increased its market share to nearly 31 percent. Tesla had 7.4 percent (slightly behind the SAIC-GM-Wuling), while Volkswagen was at 3.2 percent (3.7 percent as the Volkswagen Group).
Top brands by share in the plug-in segment year-to-date:
- BYD: 30.9%
- SAIC-GM-Wuling: 8.0%
- Tesla: 7.4%
- GAC: 4.6%
- Changan: 3.9%
- Chery: 3.8%
- Geely: 3.7%
- Volkswagen: 3.2%
Top automotive groups by share in the plug-in segment year-to-date:
- BYD: 31.1%
- SAIC: 10.5%
including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors) - Tesla: 7.4%
- Geely-Volvo: 5.7%
- GAC: 4.9%
- Chery: 4.1%
- Changan: 4.0%
- Dongfeng: N/A
- Volkswagen Group: 3.7%
We are eager to see what will happen in 2023, as Tesla's new price policy might significantly affect some of the other manufacturers (if they are not able to compete).
