China: New NEV sales record in October

The NEV market in China continued its strong momentum in October. After a weaker start to the year, the record from December 2023 (1.191 million new energy vehicles) was first surpassed this September with 1.287 million NEVs. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the next record was set in October with 1.43 million NEVs – an increase of 11.1 per cent compared to September. New energy vehicles primarily include battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV). Fuel cell vehicles are also part of the mix, but they currently only play a minor role in China, especially in the passenger car sector.

The figures from September and October are exceptional, as new records have so far mainly been set in the course of the year-end rally – i.e. in November or December. A year ago, in October 2023, NEV sales were still below the million mark, specifically at 956,000 units. Year-on-year, this corresponds to growth of an impressive 49.6 per cent.

In October 2024, 3.05 million vehicles were sold in China across all drive types (+7%). That means that 46.8 per cent of new cars were new energy vehicles. In the previous month, the figure was 45.8 per cent; in October 2023, the NEV rate was 33.5 per cent. After falling to around 30 per cent at the beginning of the year, the rate has risen steadily, reaching a new record every month since the summer. The CAAM figures also include export vehicles. If you exclude these, there are still 1.3 million new NEVs in China, which is also a record.

There is a big ‘but.’ According to CAAM figures, the highly positive development with an increase of almost 50 per cent YOY is primarily due to the strong growth of plug-in hybrids. PHEVs accounted for 587,000 sales in October (+89.7 per cent). Although battery-electric vehicles still accounted for most new NEVs in October, with 842,000 units, growth was significantly slower at 30.4 per cent. A year-on-year increase of over 30 per cent still represents enormous growth. However, the growth for PHEVs also means that more than 500,000 cars hit the road in China every month. These cars are considered new energy vehicles but still have combustion engines on board.

If you convert the 842,000 new BEVs in October to total registrations, the BEV rate in China is still 27.6 per cent. The fast-growing plug-in hybrids achieved a market share of 19.2 per cent in China in October. However, the ratio is currently shifting, and the further development in November and December will be interesting.

BYD is one of the manufacturers benefiting from the PHEV growth: the brand sold more than half a million cars for the first time in October, specifically 502,657 vehicles. And of these, 310,912 units had a PHEV drivetrain installed. That means BYD sold more plug-in hybrids in October 2024 than in October 2023 as a whole (301,883 vehicles). BEV passenger cars accounted for 189,614 units, an increase of around 15 per cent compared to both the same month last year and September. However, plug-in hybrids were up 129 per cent on the previous year.

Behind BYD is no longer Tesla but Geely. The group broke the 100,000 NEV mark for the first time in October, setting a new record. Of the 108,722 NEVs, almost 63,500 units were attributable to Geely’s Galaxy series, under which both BEVs and PHEVs are sold. The premium BEV brand Zeekr contributed 25,049 units. Lynk&Co, which currently mainly offers plug-in hybrids (but plans to launch a BEV SUV in Europe), achieved sales of 19,992 units.

Changan recorded 85,272 NEV sales in October, an increase of 48.6 per cent over the year. That includes brands such as Changan Nevo for affordable electric cars with 18,050 units, Deepal for mid-range EVs with 28,730 vehicles and the premium brand Avatr, which sold 10,056 units in October. However, the new Mazda EL6 from the Changan Mazda joint venture is also represented in Changan’s overall figures with 7,521 units.

Weak October for Tesla, records for other brands

Tesla sold 68,280 vehicles built in China in October, 27,795 of which were exported – leaving 40,485 Teslas in China. It made October the weakest month for Tesla in China since April – but strong ups and downs have always characterised the US manufacturer’s China figures.

Among the EV startups from China also sold in Europe, Xpeng was slightly ahead in October. The VW partner sold 23,917 vehicles and over 10,000 Mona M03s – the new electric saloon achieved five-digit sales figures for the second month in a row. Nio, on the other hand, achieved 20,976 sales in October but performed better when looking at the whole year (170,257 sales in 2024 so far compared to 122,478 for Xpeng). Xiaomi delivered “over 20,000 vehicles” in October – but exact figures are not known. It is thus unclear exactly where the smartphone manufacturer ranks. However, the development is enormous, as Xiaomi has only been delivering cars for seven months – Xpeng and Nio took several years to deliver more than 20,000 units in one month.

Leapmotor, which is now also making headlines in Europe thanks to its cooperation with Stellantis, delivered 38,177 vehicles in October, more than doubling the previous year’s result. As recently as February, Leapmotor had fallen back into single figures, but has now set its fifth consecutive record, including three months with more than 30,000 units.

We have already mentioned the figures for Zeekr, Deepal, and Avatr with their respective parent companies. All that remains is to take a look at the Dongfeng brand Voyah. With 10,157 EVs, Voyah achieved five-digit sales for the second month in a row.

cnevpost.com (CAAM), cnevpost.com (BYD), cnevpost.com (Tesla), carnewschina.com (Geely), carnewschina.com (Changan), xiaopeng.com (Xpeng), nio.com (Nio), cnevpost.com (Leapmotor), electric-vehicles.com (Xiiaomi), gasgoo.com (Voyah)