China Sets Massive Record: 500,000 Plug-In Cars Sold In December 2021

The whole year result exceeded 3.2 million, translating into an unprecedented share of 15%.

Wuling - Hong Guang MINI EV

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Jan 26, 2022 at 3:57pm ET

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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

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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:

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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%.

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