China Notes Massive Plug-In Car Sales Record In September 2021
Rechargeable cars took a record 20% share of the entire market.
Plug-in electric car sales in China increase quickly despite the fact that the overall car sales in September noted a serious 17% decrease year-over-year.
In total, some 355,000 new plug-in electric cars were registered last month, which is a new all-time record (three in a row, and the third in the past four months). The year-over-year growth rate exceeds 170%, while the result is 24% higher than the previous record in August.
The market share of plug-ins has reached a new all-time high of 20%, which is one in five new cars.; Not only that, 17% are BEVs, while only 3% plug-in hybrids.
See more reports about plug-in vehicle sales in China here.
The most recent results are probably just a preview of even higher volumes in the last three months of the year - those were usually the strongest months.
Plug-in electric car sales in China – September 2021

So far this year, close to 2 million passenger plug-in cars were sold in China (significantly more than in all of 2020), which is 13.3% of the total market. BEV share stands at 10.8%.
At the current rate, the total plug-in car sales in China might reach 3.0 million in 2021. That's more than half of the global volume.
Model rank
A very high number of plug-in cars set new monthly sales record in September. The highest result belongs to the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV (over 35,000), but the MIC Tesla Model Y was not far behind with 33,033 units.
Then we can see the Tesla Model 3 (19,120) ahead of the plug-in hybrid BYD Qin Plus (15,164), which by the way, together with the all-electric 8,396 BYD Qin Plus EV, was above 23,000.
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV - 35,169
- Tesla Model Y - 33,033
- Tesla Model 3 - 19,120
- BYD Qin Plus PHEV - 15,164
- BYD Song Pro/Plus PHEV - 10,278
- BYD Qin Plus EV - 8,396
- Changan Benni EV - 7,968
- BYD Han (BEV) - 7,796
- GAC Aion S - 7,679
- XPeng P7 - 7,512
Year-to-date, the BYD Qin Plus PHEV is now fourth, while the Tesla Model Y is approaching the Tesla Model 3.
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV - 288,873
- Tesla Model 3 - 111,875
- Tesla Model Y - 92,933
- BYD Qin Plus PHEV - 58,710
- BYD Han (BEV) - 58,251
- Li Xiang One EREV - 55,270
- Changan Benni EV - 53,174
- GAC Aion S - 48,871
- Great Wall Ora Black Cat - 47,087
- Chery eQ - 44,609
BYD, thanks to several consecutive records, has expanded its share among plug-in cars to 17%, while SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors) is at 16%. Tesla has 11% share.
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