China marks another NEV sales increase

In November, sales figures for New Energy Vehicles reached a new high for the year. Over the course of the month, 429,000 NEVs were sold, which significantly exceeds the previous record from October (368,000 vehicles).

The NEV market share – which in China includes PHEVs, BEVs and FCEVs – was 20.8 per cent of the total passenger car market in November. For comparison: In the current year from January to the end of November, the share is 13.9 per cent. After a weak start to the year (only 100,000 sales in February), registrations have risen steadily since May.

Within NEVs, the distribution between BEVs and PHEVs remains almost constant. For every 343,000 BEVs there were 85,000 PHEVs, which roughly corresponds to a distribution of 80:20. Of the 429,000 units in November, 378,000 were passenger cars and consequently about 51,000 were commercial vehicles. In the current year, 2.154 million NEVs have been sold, an increase of 178 per cent compared to the 2020 period.

Among manufacturers, the usual picture remains: BYD leads the New Energy Vehicles with 90,121 sales, up 252.7 per cent compared to November 2020, according to the manufacturer. However, 2020 was a relatively weak year in China. In 2021, BYD is doing much better: in the current year, the manufacturer has already reached half a million sales with 500,922 units. The flagship sedan Han (as PHEV and BEV) accounts for 140,000 of these vehicles, and 12,841 Han were added in November (of which 10,021 Han EV). In addition, the November figures include the first 8,808 EA1s, i.e. the electric small car on the new 800-volt platform.

However, since BYD’s figures also include numerous plug-in hybrids (such as the Tang DM-i SUV), Tesla is ahead in the pure BEV figures. At 52,859 units, the figures are down slightly for the third month in a row (in September there were 56,006 vehicles), but they remain at a high level – 145 per cent above the figure from November 2020. Of the 52,859 vehicles, 21,127 were exported, so 31,732 Model 3 and Model Y were sold in China. Separate build figures for the two models or even engine numbers are not currently available.

In terms of models, the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV from SAIC-GM-Wuling is still in the lead. 45,576 units of the mini EV were sold. Together with the other models, 50,141 vehicles based on the Wuling GSEV (Global Small Electric Vehicle) were sold. At the end of November, another model, the Nano EV, was introduced. However, the November figures do not yet include the Nano EV.

Volkswagen has been able to continue its growth in sales of the ID. family, but remains below the planned level. In November, 14,167 ID. models were sold after 12,736 vehicles in October – VW does not publish a breakdown by model. Group CEO Herbert Diess recently admitted that VW will miss the targeted range of 80,000 to 100,000 electric vehicles sold in China (not just the ID. models). The current target is 70,000 to 80,000 units.

Among Chinese EV start-ups, Xpeng came out on top in November. The manufacturer reached 15,613 BEVs and managed to grow across all three model series. GAC Aion was able to sell 14,566 BEVs, Nio came to 10,818 sales. Neta recorded its first five-digit monthly sales with 10,013 BEVs. Leap Motor came in at 5,628 battery-electric sales, WM Motor at 5,027 BEVs.

The Great Wall brand Ora with 16,136 BEV sales had a close race with the Geely Group with 16,161 BEVs. The Geely brand Zeekr accounted for 2,012 of these sales. BAIC came in at 2,471 NEV sales. Among the established manufacturers, however, another company was ahead: JAC Group sold 37,000 BEVs (out of a total of 49,000 vehicles) in November.

cnevpost.com (total market), byd.com (BYD),, cnevpost.com (Tesla), cnevpost.com (Wuling), cnevpost.com (Volkswagen), xiaopeng.com (Xpeng), cnevpost.com (GAC Aion), nio.com (Nio), cnevpost.com (Neta), cnevpost.com (Leap Motor), cnevpost.com (WM Motor), cnevpost.com (Great Wall), cnevpost.com (Geely), cnevpost.com (Zeekr), cnevpost.com (BAIC), cnevpost.com (JAC)