The Chinese market continues to move away from thermal power: in March, one in five cars sold in China was electric.
According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), sales of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs, i.e. electric and plug-in hybrids), reached 653,000 units last month. This represents an increase of 34.8% year on year and 24.4% compared to February.
Among these 653,000 cars sold, the balance clearly tipped in favor of electric cars in March: BEV vehicles accounted for 490,000 units, compared to 163,000 for PHEVs, i.e. just under a quarter whereas, during long, the ratio was more like 50:50. Fuel cell vehicles, which also belong to NEVs, were up 27% year-on-year, but with 50 vehicles in March, you can’t say they played a significant role.
This excellent performance in March for electrics broke a quarterly sales record. The market in April will be very interesting to watch to see if it continues to rise as strongly as in the first quarter, but the figures will be difficult to compare with April 2022, when strict Covid confinement was in place in many major cities. in China.
All engines combined, 2.45 million vehicles were sold in China in March, an increase of 9.7% compared to the previous year and 24% compared to February. NEVs therefore represented a market share of 26.6%, BEVs 19.9%.
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The automaker that sold the most NEVs and BEVs in March was once again BYD. The Chinese automaker sold 207,080 NEVs this month, setting a wide record for the first quarter and double from a year earlier. In detail, this figure includes a few commercial vehicles, but with 206,089 units, passenger cars accounted for the majority. Of these, 102,670 vehicles were electric and 103,419 plug-in hybrids. This means that 63% of the 163,000 plug-in hybrids sold last month in China were from BYD.
Meanwhile, Tesla sold 88,869 Chinese-made vehicles in March, including those destined for export. This represents an increase of 35% compared to March 2022 and 19.5% compared to February. The share of sales in China and export is not yet available, but what is clear, however, is that in March the Model Y was the best-selling SUV in China with 54,937 units, ahead of BYD Song (40,114) and Yuan Plus (27,907).
Behind BYD and Tesla, GAC Aion continued its progress: GAC’s NEV brand registered 40,016 sales in March, while it had beaten its record a month earlier with 30,086 units. Compared to March 2022, GAC Aion almost doubled its sales (+97%). In the first quarter, GAC Aion sold 80,308 vehicles, nearly half of which were sold in March alone.
Li Auto has also found success in recent months. After ups and downs, the trend is now up: the 20,823 NEV sales in March represent an increase of 88.7% year on year and 25% compared to February.
Nio also managed to hit five-figure sales in March with 10,378 units. The manufacturer’s most important model is now the ET5 with 6,437 sales alone. Neta also topped the 10,000 mark with 10,087 NEVs, but that’s only an increase of 14 vehicles from February and a drop of 16% from March 2022.
While Nio and Xpeng, another internationally known electric car start-up from China, have long had comparable monthly sales figures, Xpeng now regularly has to fall behind Nio. this was the case in March, with 7,002 vehicles sold. The Geely subsidiary Zeekr (6,663) and Leapmotor (6,172) bring up the rear.
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