December, as usual in China, has brought a new huge plug-in electric car sales record of about half a million units.
According to the EV-volumes' registration data, in the final month of last year, about 502,545 passenger plug-in cars were registered, which is 125% more than a year ago.
See more reports about plug-in vehicle sales in China here.
Not only was the volume at a record high, but also the market share, which reached 21%, including 17% for all-electric cars. BEVs stand for roughly 81% of the total plug-ins sold, which means an amazing record of some 407,000 units.
- BEVs: about 407,000 and 17% share
- PHEVs: about 95,500 and 4% share
- Total: 502,545 (up 125%) and 21% share
Plug-in electric car sales in China – December 2021
In 2021, the total plug-in electric car registrations increased by about 153% year-over-year, from 1.27 million in 2020 to 3,224,373.
That's an impressive result, which is not far from half of the global volume (the final numbers should be released in the coming days).
Thanks to an outstanding second half of the year, on average, about 15% of new passenger cars were rechargeable (compared to 6.3% in 2020).
All-electric cars represent 12% of the total market (vs. 5.1% in 2020). Plug-in hybrids have about a 3% share.
- BEVs: about *2.5 million and 12% share
- PHEVs: about *0.7 million and 3% share
- Total: 3,224,373 (up 153%) and 15% share
* estimated from the market share
Model rank
The EV king in China is only one - the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, which, according to the EV-volumes data, noted 55,742 in December (even more than according to CPCA) and 424,138 in 2021. This is a massive result.
The secret for Wuling lies in its affordability, as the electric minicar starts at an equivalent of about $6,000 dollars.
The next two most popular models are the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 - both with new monthly records in December.
The monthly top five is completed by two BYD plug-in hybrids - Qin and Song. It's worth paying attention to those two, especially since together with all-electric versions, they sell in really high volume.
Results for the month:
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV - 55,742
- Tesla Model Y - 40,194
- Tesla Model 3 - 29,967
- BYD Qin Plus PHEV - 17,286 (over 24,000 including the BEV version)
- BYD Song Pro/Plus PHEV - 15,120 (over 19,000 including the BEV version)
- Li Xiang One EREV - 14,087
- Great Wall Ora Good Cat - 10,685
- Volkswagen ID.4 - 10,580
- Changan Benni EV - 10,404
- BYD Han (BEV) - 10,301
The first four spots for the year are the same as for the month - Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, ahead of the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 (see the full report about Tesla in China here). The two Tesla models counted together noted 320,426 units. That is still over 100,000 below Wuling's best seller.
It's worth noting Li Xiang One EREV at #5 with 90,491 units. It's a plug-in hybrid in a series configuration. Then, we can see two more BYD models, including the flagship BYD Han EV.
Results in 2021:
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV - 424,138
- Tesla Model Y - 169,547
- Tesla Model 3 - 150,879
- BYD Qin Plus PHEV - 111,553
- Li Xiang One EREV - 90,491
- BYD Han (BEV) - 86,860
- BYD Song Pro/Plus PHEV - 78,939
- Changan Benni EV - 76,400
- GAC Aion S - 71,184
- Chery eQ (estimated) - 68,821
In terms of the top plug-in brands, BYD is on the top:
- BYD: 18% share
- SAIC-GM-Wuling: 14%
- Tesla: 10%
- SAIC: 5%
- Great Wall: 4%
- GAC: 4%
- Volkswagen: 4%
Among the automotive groups, the number one happens to be SAIC (19%) - including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors). BYD (18%) and Tesla (10%) completes the podium - those two also noted the highest growth rate among the top 20 brands (BYD +78%, Tesla +198%). The Volkswagen Group has 4%.
