Plug-in electric car sales in China continued to increase at a solid rate in April, allowing the market share to increase significantly.
According to EV Volumes’ data, shared by researcher Jose Pontes, almost 704,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in April. That’s about 30% more than a year ago, while the market share amounted to 44%, compared to 35% in April 2023.
Plug-in car sales surges in China
The Chinese plug-in electric car market is not only the largest one in the world, but it also represents the majority of global plug-in car sales. The share of rechargeable cars in China in 2023 amounted to 37% (compared to 30% in 2022). So far in 2024, it’s 40%.
In April, all-electric car registrations increased by 10% year over year to roughly 415,000, representing about 26% of the country’s total volume and 59% of all plug-ins.
The main force of growth is the plug-in hybrids, which expanded 65% year-over-year to roughly 290,000.
Plug-in car registrations for the month (YOY change):
- BEVs: about *415,000 (up 10%) and 26% market share
- PHEVs: about *289,000 (up 65%) and 18% market share
- Total: 703,788 (up 30%) and 44% market share
* estimated from the market share
During the first four months of the year, more than 2.5 million new plug-in electric cars were registered in China (up roughly 32% year-over-year). That’s about 40% of the total car market.
Plug-in car registrations January-April (YOY change):
- BEVs: about *1.65 million and 26% market share
- PHEVs: about *0.89 million and 14% market share
- Total: 2,539,118 (up 32%) and 40% market share
* estimated from the market share
For reference, in 2023, more than 8 million new plug-in electric cars were registered in China (46% more than in 2022), which was about 37% of the total volume (compared to 30% in 2022, 15% in 2021, and 6.3% in 2020).
As we wrote previously, considering the year’s strong start, 2024 should be even better, most likely above 10 million units.
The top-selling cars in China are plug-ins—BYD Song family (54,300), BYD Qin Plus family (46,314), BYD Seagull (28,797), and Tesla Model Y (26,356). The first non-rechargeable nameplate is the Nissan Sylphy with 24,270 units in April.
One of the most interesting things is that the Tesla Model Y wasn’t the best-selling all-electric model last month. The BYD Seagull was and it might be a turning point after a few years of Tesla doination.
Top 10 plug-ins in April:
- BYD Song: 54,300 (8,403 BEVs + 45,897 PHEVs)
- BYD Qin Plus: 46,314 (15,479 BEVs + 30,835 PHEVs)
- BYD Seagull: 28,797
- Tesla Model Y: 26,356
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3): 23,327
- BYD Han: 20,535 (8,859 BEVs + 11,676 PHEVs)
- BYD Destroyer 05 (PHEV): 20,363
- Aito M9: 15,139 (2,030 BEVs + 13,109 PHEVs)
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 12,445
- Aion S: 11,889
After the first four months, the BYD Song family and the BYD Qin family extended their advantage over others while the distance between the Tesla Model Y and the BYD Seagull slightly decreased.
Top 10 plug-ins in January-April:
- BYD Song: 191,220 (28,806 BEVs + 162,414 PHEVs)
- BYD Qin Plus: 153,803 (40,612 BEVs + 113,191 PHEVs)
- Tesla Model Y: 126,722
- BYD Seagull: 99,116
- Aito M7 (EREV): 78,858
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3): 70,319
- BYD Han: 58,129 (20,204 BEVs + 37,925 PHEVs)
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 56,660
- BYD Destroyer 05 (PHEV): 52,519
- BYD Dolphin: 48,266
* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.
BYD continues to dominate the Chinese plug-in market, with a 29.8% share in the plug-in car segment (31.9% when including its satellite brands), which is not expected to change soon.
Top brands by share in the plug-in segment in January-April:
- BYD: 29.8%
- Tesla: 6.5%
- SAIC-GM-Wuling: 5.3%
- Geely: 4.6%
- Aito: 4.4%
- Li Auto: 4.2%
Top automotive groups by share in the plug-in segment in January-April:
- BYD: 31.9%
including Denza, Fang Cheng Bao and Yangwang brands - Geely-Volvo: 8.4%
- SAIC: 8.0%
including the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM, and Liuzhou Wuling Motors) - Tesla: 6.5%
- Changan: 6.5%
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