Sales of new energy vehicles in China rises again
Sales of battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids were on the up again in China throughout October as the country recovers. The downturn following the new subsidy policy in summer 2019 and the corona pandemic appears to have been overcome.
144,000 locally produced electric cars and plug-in hybrids were sold in October across China, around 120 per cent more than in the same month of the previous year and 16 per cent more than in September 2020.
Of the 144,000 New Energy Vehicles (NEV), the vast majority were battery-electric, which amounts to 121,000 purely electric cars, an increase of 137 per cent in comparison to October 2019. The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) counted sales of plug-in hybrids to rise by almost 59 per cent to 23,000 vehicles.
The consequences of the weaker first half of the year can be seen in the CPCA statistics: The cumulative sales figures for NEV in the current year were around 780,000 units at the end of October. This is six per cent less than in the corresponding period of 2019.
According to the CPCA, Tesla sold 12,143 electric cars produced in China in October, around seven per cent more than in September. This puts the Californian company in fourth place in the association’s manufacturer ranking. With 29,711 sales, the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture takes first place (including the miniature electric car Hongguang Mini EV), followed by BYD (22,395 NEV) and SAIC Motor (12,785 NEV).
The value that the CPCA gives for BYD is somewhat surprising: the manufacturer itself had only 22,045 NEV passenger cars in its statistics – or 23,217 vehicles if NEV commercial vehicles (especially e-buses) are included.
At the end of October, the Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers working for the Ministry of Industry, proposed that only “environmentally friendly” cars be registered in China from 2035. By then, more than 50 per cent of sales would be new energy vehicles, with hybrids accounting for the rest of the market – pure combustion engines would then no longer be permitted. At the beginning of November, the State Council took up these proposals in its NEV targets up to 2025.
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