China is not slowing down and notes a very high increase in plug-in electric car sales right from the start of the year.

According to EV Volumes' data shared by Jose Pontes, in January, some 372,615 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China, which is 115% more than a year ago.

See more reports about plug-in vehicle sales in China here.

The market share also improved to 17%, including 13% for all-electric cars. BEV sales almost doubled (up 98% year-over-year), and stand for 77% of all plug-ins.

  • BEVs: about *287,000 and 13% share
  • PHEVs: about *86,000 and 4% share
  • Total: 372,615 (up 115%) and 17% share

* estimated from the market share

Plug-in electric car sales in China – January 2022

For reference, 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.

  • 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 new year does not bring any change to the first position, as the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV remains the best-selling model with almost 27,000 units in January.

Interesting is the very strong position of BYD, which put two plug-in hybrids on the podium - Qin and Song. Then, there is the Tesla Model Y and Li Xiang One EREV (series hybrid).

Results for the month:

  1. Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV - 26,682
  2. BYD Qin Plus PHEV - 18,449
  3. BYD Song Pro/Plus PHEV - 16,411
  4. Tesla Model Y - 16,358
  5. Li Xiang One EREV - 12,268
  6. BYD Dolphin - 10,602
  7. BYD Han (BEV) - 10,051
  8. Chery QQ Ice Cream - 9,984
  9. Changan Benni EV - 9,852
  10. Chery eQ1 / Little Ant - 9,412

In total, BYD put four models in the top 10, and seven in the top 20 best-selling plug-ins in China. Because of that, the company was able to secure the highest market share of 24.9% in the plug-in segment.

The top plug-in brands:

  • BYD: 24.9% share
  • SAIC-GM-Wuling: 8.5%
  • Chery: 5.3%
  • Tesla: 5.2%
  • SAIC: 4.5%
  • GAC: 4%3

Among the automotive groups, the number one happens to be BYD (24.9%), far ahead of SAIC (13%) - including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors). Chery (5.4%) is slightly ahead of Tesla (5.2%), while the top five is completed by Geely-Volvo (5%).

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