Half Of All Cars Sold In China Are Plug-Ins
Plug-in cars—both EVs and PHEVs—will soon make up the majority of Chinese car sales.
Plug-in electric car sales in China continued to climb in June, reaching the second-highest monthly volume ever and a new record market share of 49.9%. It means that half of new passenger cars are rechargeable. Europe and the U.S. are not even close to such a level.
According to EV Volumes' data, shared by researcher Jose Pontes, 875,904 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in June. That's about 23% more than a year ago.
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Twilight of ICE
In June, 49.9% of new car registrations were all-electric or plug-in hybrid. As early as July, we might see plug-in cars in the majority.
The growth comes mostly from plug-in hybrids. All-electric car registrations increased in June by only 1% year-over-year to roughly 482,500 units (about 55% of the total plug-in volume).
At the same time, PHEVs were up by a massive 70% year-over-year to about 393,000 (45% of plug-ins). If these trends continue, PHEVs will beat plug-ins in the second half of the year, indicating that full electrification must wait.
Plug-in car registrations for the month (YOY change):
- BEVs: about about 482,500 (up 1%) and 28% market share
- PHEVs: about about 393,000 (up 70%) and 22% market share
- Total: 875,904 (up 23%) and 49.9% market share
Plug-in electric car sales in China – June 2024
During the first six months of the year, more than 4.26 million new plug-in electric cars were registered in China (up 31% year-over-year). That's about 43% of the total car market.
Plug-in car registrations in January-June (YOY change):
- BEVs: about *2.55 million and 25% market share
- PHEVs: about *1.69 million and 18% market share
- Total: 4,269,398 (up 31%) and 43% market share
* estimated from the market share
For reference, in 2023, more than 8 million new plug-in electric cars were registered in China (46% more than in 2022), which was about 37% of the total volume. Plug-in cars represented 30% of sales in 2022, 15% in 2022 and 6.3% in 2020. Considering the year's strong start, 2024 should be even better than 2023. I expect total annual plug-in sales for 2024 to reach 10 million units (most of the sales happen in the second half of the year).
Model rank
In June, the four top plug-in car nameplates—the BYD Song, Tesla Model Y, BYD Qin Plus and BYD Seagu;l—were also the best-selling cars overall. The first non-rechargeable nameplate is the Nissan Sylphy (5th).
The Tesla Model 3 returned to the top ten plug-ins at 9th, but the list remains highly dominated by Chinese models. The Tesla Model Y continues to be the number one all-electric model, although it was down 14% year-over-year.
Top 10 plug-ins in June:
- BYD Song: 52,227 (2,794 BEVs + 49,433 PHEVs)
- Tesla Model Y: 44,110
- BYD Qin Plus: 38,901 (8,323 BEVs + 30,578 PHEVs)
- BYD Seagull: 35,201
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3): 23,918
- Li Xiang L6: 23,864
- BYD Destroyer 05 (PHEV): 19,441
- BYD Han: 18,698 (5,957 BEVs + 12,741 PHEVs)
- Tesla Model 3: 18,151
- BYD Qin L PHEV: 18,021
The BYD Song has had an incredible first six months of 2024. It's been the dominant nameplate in the country so far this year.
Top 10 plug-ins in January-June:
- BYD Song: 292,138 (42,422 BEVs + 249,716 PHEVs)
- BYD Qin Plus: 220,008 (65,945 BEVs + 154,063 PHEVs)
- Tesla Model Y: 210,817
- BYD Seagull: 172,017
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3): 118,303
- Aito M7 (EREV): 106,540
- BYD Destroyer 05 (PHEV): 106,137
- BYD Han: 90,520 (35,093 BEVs + 55,427 PHEVs)
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 83,288
- Aion Y: 74,241
* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.
Brands
BYD continues to dominate the Chinese plug-in market, with a 30.8% share of the plug-in car segment (32.9% when including its satellite brands).
Top brands by share in the plug-in segment in January-June:
- BYD: 30.8%
- Tesla: 6.8%
- Li Auto: 4.6%
- SAIC-GM-Wuling: 4.6%
- Aito: 4.4%
Top automotive groups by share in the plug-in segment in January-June:
- BYD: 32.9%
- Geely-Volvo: 7.9%
- Tesla: 6.8%
- SAIC: 6.7%
- Changan: 6.5%
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