Plug-in electric car sales in China surged in April, taking more than a third of the entire car market.
According to EV Volumes' data, shared by Jose Pontes, some 539,563 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in April, which is 93 percent more than a year ago.
The high rate of growth is related to a slower April 2022 (due to a local lockdown), but even without that, the plug-in market would expand quite quickly.
Nonetheless, the market share of rechargeable cars improved to 35 percent and probably will head to 40 percent in the second half of the year. This is a far higher result than in Europe or in the United States.
The majority of rechargeable cars happen to be all-electric - roughly 370,000 or 24 percent of the total volume.
Results for the month:
- BEVs: *370,000 and 24% share
- PHEVs: *170,000 and 11% share
- Total: 539,563 (up 93% year-over-year) and 35% share
* estimated from the market share
Plug-in electric car sales in China – April 2023
So far this year, more than 1.9 million new plug-in electric cars were registered in China (up roughly 37 percent year-over-year), which is about 33 percent of the total volume.
Results year-to-date:
- BEVs: about *1.30 million and 22% share
- PHEVs: about *0.61 million and 11% share
- Total: 1,921,923 (up 37% year-over-year) and 33% share
* estimated from the market share
For reference, in 2022, over 5.92 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China (30 percent of the total volume).
Model rank
In terms of models, in the top ten for the month, we see... a BYD, a BYD, a BYD, a BYD and a Tesla, ahead of several more Chinese electric cars (GAC, Wuling and BYD). The plug-in segment is completely dominated by Chinese manufacturers with a very strong position held by BYD (more than a third of the market).
The top-selling model happened to be the BYD Qin Plus (BEV and PHEV versions counted together), which noted roughly 40,000 units. That's pretty amazing.
An intriguing thing is that plug-ins occupied six positions in the top 10 in the overall market, including the first four, ahead of the Nissan Sylphy gasoline sedan).
Top 10 plug-ins for the month:
- BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): 40,003
- BYD Song Plus (BEVs + PHEVs): 36,836
- BYD Dolphin: 29,961
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) BEV: 28,931
- Tesla Model Y: 26,760
- GAC Aion Y: 21,065
- GAC Aion S: 19,569
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 18,086
- Wuling Bingo: 15,011
- BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): 14,329
After the first four months, the BYD Song Plus remains at the top with a huge advantage over other models, but it's no longer the best-selling one. The BYD Qin Plus has also a chance to take over the Tesla Model Y in May.
Top 10 plug-ins year-to-date:
- BYD Song Plus (BEVs + PHEVs): 178,215
- Tesla Model Y: 121,407
- BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): 119,242
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) BEV: 106,014
- BYD Dolphin: 100,009
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 87,928
- GAC Aion S: 67,879
- Tesla Model 3: 55,978
- BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): 52,643
- GAC Aion Y: 52,120
* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.
Brands
BYD is the most popular brand and automotive group in China, although, after April, its advantage once again slightly decreased. Tesla maintains a strong second position, but its market share also decreased, indicating that the rest of the market is moving faster.
Top brands by share in the plug-in segment year-to-date:
- BYD: 35.7%
- Tesla: 9.3%
- GAC Aion: 6.3%
- SAIC-GM-Wuling: 5.9%
- Changan: 4.5%
- Li Auto: 4.1%
Top automotive groups by share in the plug-in segment year-to-date:
- BYD: 38.1%
including Denza brand - Tesla: 9.3%
- SAIC: 7.6%
including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors) - GAC: 6.6%
- Geely-Volvo: 5.3%
- Changan: 4.6%
