China’s NEV sales continue to rise

In China, around 357,000 New Energy Vehicles were sold in September. Battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles together accounted for a market share of 17.3 per cent. BYD continues to be the strongest brand.

A total of 2.067 million vehicles were sold in China last month, of which 357,000 were equipped with a (partially) electric drive, as mentioned above. While the overall market was down 19.6 per cent compared to September 2020, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), NEV sales increased by 148.4 per cent.

The 357,000 NEVs are 341,000 passenger cars and 16,000 commercial vehicles. Among the NEV passenger cars, battery-electric cars accounted for by far the larger share with 281,000 units compared to PHEVs with 61,000 vehicles. The NEV commercial vehicles are almost exclusively BEVs. In addition to the BEVs and PHEVs, 173 fuel cell vehicles were sold, but Gasgoo does not specify whether these are passenger cars or commercial vehicles.

In the current year, 2.157 million New Energy Vehicles were sold by the end of September, 185.3 per cent more than in the same period last year.

In terms of brands, the September statistics also show the almost familiar picture: BYD continues to lead in the evaluation of New Energy Vehicles, with the manufacturer selling 70,022 NEV passenger cars. However, if you only look at the battery-electric cars, another manufacturer is in the lead. BYD sold 36,606 BEVs and 33,716 PHEVs.

In second place for NEVs but in first place for BEVs is Tesla. The US brand was able to sell 56,006 vehicles produced in China in September, and as is well known, these are exclusively battery-electric cars. Unlike other months, this time most of the Teslas built in China stayed in the country: only 3,853 of the vehicles were exported (-87.7 per cent compared to August), but Tesla sales in China are up 304.8 per cent compared to August to 52,153 units, of which 33,033 are Model Ys.

Tesla figures are known to be best assessed over a longer period of time, as the manufacturer adjusts the number of vehicles exported from month to month as needed. Tesla said that 300,000 Model 3s and Model Ys had already been built in Shanghai in the year to the end of September, of which around 100,000 were exported and 200,000 vehicles were sold in China.

In the NEV statistics, BYD and Tesla are followed by SAIC-GM-Wuling with 38,850 units, ahead of SAIC Motor PV with 21,552 vehicles , GAC Aion (13,572 units) and Great Wall Motor with 12,770 New Energy Vehicles.

Also above the 10,000 vehicle sales mark in September were the two eMobility start-ups Nio and Xpeng. Nio managed to sell 10,628 units, 125 per cent more than in September 2020. In Q3, Nio came in at 24,439 deliveries, a 100 per cent increase from Q3 2020.

The best-selling model in September was the ES6 with 5,260 units, ahead of the related EC6 electric SUV coupe with 3,390 units sold. The flagship ES8 came in at 1,978 deliveries. In total, Nio has delivered 142,036 E-SUVs since its inception as of the end of September.

Close behind Nio is Xpeng with 10,412 deliveries in September. In the third quarter, however, Xpeng overtook Nio with 25,666 vehicles. For Xpeng, it was a 199 per cent year-on-year increase in both the September and Q9 figures.

The best-selling Xpeng was the P7 sedan with 7,512 units, while 2,656 of the G3 and G3i SUV models hit the road. In addition, the September statistics include the first 244 P5s; Xpeng has been delivering the smaller sedan in China since 15 September.

gasgoo.com (total sales), gasgoo.com (BYD), gasgoo.com (Tesla), nio.com (Nio), xiaopeng.com (Xpeng)