China shows strong EV sales growth over Q1 2021

The first EV manufacturers from China published their sales figures for March and for the first quarter of the year. Unsurprisingly, the statistics from BYD, Nio and Xpeng show a strong increase in sales compared to the start of 2020, which was overshadowed by the beginning of the pandemic.

++ This article has been updated. Kindly continue reading below. ++

At BYD, quarterly sales rose to 54,751 electric cars and plug-in hybrids, of which 53,380 were passenger cars. The remaining vehicles are likely to be commercial vehicles, especially buses. Even if this is not explicitly stated in Gasgoo. The 53,380 passenger cars sold are again divided into 38,599 BEVs (+113.1%) and 14,781 PHEVs (+333.2%).

In March, BYD recorded 24,218 electric vehicles sold (including 23,386 passenger cars). Compared to March 2020, this represents an increase of 97.6%. In the passenger car segment, the Chinese group sold 16,301 BEVs (+56.2%) and 7,085 PHEVs (+432.7%) in March. This marks the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year growth for BYD’s electric vehicle sales. And the manufacturer is following up with new refreshed BEV models: All-new models, the Qin PLUS EV and Song PLUS EV, were launched this week, flanked by revised versions of the Tang EV, Qin EV and e2. All five have BYD’s ‘Blade Battery‘ on board as standard, which is supposed to score above all with longevity and increased safety.

The Chinese electric carmaker Nio reported first-quarter sales of 20,060 vehicles, beating the same quarter last year by a massive 423% and also beating the fourth quarter of 2020 (17,353 units). For March, Nio reports 7,257 electric cars sold (+373% over March 2020), including 1,529 units of the ES8, 3,152 ES6s and 2,576 EC6s. What’s more, this week Nio said it produced its 100,000th electric car. Meanwhile, the vehicle trio is soon to become a quartet: In January, the start-up presented its ET7 sedan.

The curves at electric car manufacturer Xpeng are also pointing upwards: For the first quarter, 13,340 deliveries are on the books, 487% more than in the same quarter last year and also an increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 (12,964 vehicles). In March, Xeng sold 5,102 electric cars (up 384% from March 2020 and up 130% from February 2021), including 2,855 units of the P7 and 2,247 G3.

Xpeng says it has never achieved as many sales as between January and March in any other quarter. In addition, the 50,000th vehicle was delivered in March, according to the manufacturer. Further, Xpeng is currently making the leap to Europe: after the launch of the G3 electric compact SUV in Norway, the company will soon decide which European countries are next in line. Meanwhile, Xpeng is planning the market launch of its third series model in China. The presentation is to take place in the current quarter, with the first deliveries planned for the fourth quarter.

With reporting by Cora Werwitzke, France.

Update 09 April 2021: Now there are also figures on total electric car sales in China: Around 226,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids were sold nationwide in March, more than twice as many as in February. Compared to the same month last year, the increase is 239 per cent.

In terms of import competition, Tesla sold 35,478 locally produced electric cars in China in March. That is also almost twice as many as in February. Reuters based its figures on data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the China Passenger Car Association.

Wuling has also published the figures for March this year. A total of 39,745 units of the Hongguang Mini EV electric small car were sold. It was the highest monthly sales of the model since its launch last July. And it also broke the previous record of 36,762 units sold in January this year.

nio.com, nio.com (100.000th electric car from Nio), ir.xiaopeng.com, autonews.gasgoo.com (BYD),  reuters.com (update), cnevpost.com (Wuling)