China’s plug-in electric car market reported remarkable sales growth in April, accounting for over a third of the overall auto market (35%).
Sales of new passenger plug-in electric cars grew 93% year-on-year to 539,563 units in China in the fourth month of the year, Jose Pontes reports citing EV-Volumes data.
It is worth noting that the COVID-related lockdown adversely affected the overall auto market last year, which partly explains the high growth rate this year. Nonetheless, the plug-in car market would still progress quickly, considering the significant boosts from the government and the automakers.
The report even indicated a forecast of a market share increase to approximately 40% by the end of the year, up 5% from 35% in April.
Plug-in electric car sales in China – April 2023
Of the 539,563 units total, about 370,000 were battery-electric vehicles (24% market share), per InsideEVs’ estimate. Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids accounted for 11% of the overall volume, with about 170,000 unit sales.
April 2023 results:
| Powertrain | Sales | Market Share |
| BEVs | *370,000 | 24% |
| PHEVs | *170,000 | 11% |
| Total | 539,563 (up 93% YoY) | 35% |
* estimated from the market share
Plug-in electric car sales in China – YTD
Plug-in electric car registrations in China grew 37% YoY to over 1.9 million units this year to date, representing around 33% of the overall volume.
YTD results:
| Powertrain | Sales | Market Share |
| BEVs | about *1.30 million | 22% |
| PHEVs | about *0.61 million | 11% |
| Total | 1,921,923 (up 37% YoY) | 33% |
* estimated from the market share
In retrospect, China’s new passenger plug-in electric car registrations reached more than 5.92 million units in FY 2022, accounting for 30% of the overall volume.
Top 10 bestselling models
Monthly ranking
Interestingly, Chinese models conquered the top 10 ranking for bestselling electric vehicles in April 2023.
Chinese EV giant BYD secured the top four spots with its Qin Plus, Song Plus, Dolphin, and Yuan Plus models, followed by a Tesla Model Y.
Additional Chinese models claimed the sixth and seventh spots, GAC Aion Y (21,065) and GAC Aion S (19,569). Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV followed it with sales of 18,086 units and Wuling Bingo with 15,011. The 10th place was another BYD model, the Han family (14,329).
Top 10 plug-ins for the month:
| Rankings | Models | Sales |
| 1 | BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV) | 40,003 |
| 2 | BYD Song Plus (BEVs + PHEVs) | 36,836 |
| 3 | BYD Dolphin | 29,961 |
| 4 | BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) BEV | 28,931 |
| 5 | Tesla Model Y | 26,760 |
| 6 | GAC Aion Y | 21,065 |
| 7 | GAC Aion S | 19,569 |
| 8 | Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV | 18,086 |
| 9 | Wuling Bingo | 15,011 |
| 10 | BYD Han (BEV + PHEV) | 14,329 |
YTD ranking
BYD’s Song Plus advanced to the first spot in the year’s first four months, pushing its sibling Qin Plus to the third spot. The Tesla Model Y climbed three places in the YTD ranking.
Unlike the monthly ranking with 9 Chinese models dominating the list, the YTD results included another model from America’s leading automaker Tesla Model 3.
Top 10 plug-ins YTD:
| Rankings | Models | Sales |
| 1 | BYD Song Plus (BEVs + PHEVs) | 178,215 |
| 2 | Tesla Model Y | 121,407 |
| 3 | BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV) | 119,242 |
| 4 | BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) BEV | 106,014 |
| 5 | BYD Dolphin | 100,009 |
| 6 | Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV | 87,928 |
| 7 | GAC Aion S | 67,879 |
| 8 | Tesla Model 3 | 55,978 |
| 9 | BYD Han (BEV + PHEV) | 52,643 |
| 10 | GAC Aion Y | 52,120 |
* The source included both the BEV and PHEV variants of the same vehicles.
Top brands YTD
As expected, BYD is the bestselling brand with a 35.7% market share in the plug-in segment. Tesla followed it with 9.3%.
Top brands by market share in the plug-in segment YTD:
| Rankings | Brands | Sales |
| 1 | BYD | 35.7% |
| 2 | Tesla | 9.3% |
| 3 | GAC Aion | 6.3% |
| 4 | SAIC-GM-Wuling: | 5.9% |
| 5 | Changan | 4.5% |
| 6 | Li Auto | 4.1% |
Top automotive groups YTD
BYD remains at the top for the top automotive group ranking, with a 38.1% market share. Tesla followed it again with 9.3%, while the remaining spots were filled with other Chinese groups.
Top automotive groups by market share in the plug-in segment YTD:
| Rankings | Automotive groups | Sales |
| 1 | BYD (including Denza brand) | 38.1% |
| 2 | Tesla | 9.3% |
| 3 | SAIC (including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors) | 7.6% |
| 4 | GAC | 6.6% |
| 5 | Geely-Volvo | 5.3% |
| 6 | Changan | 4.6% |
See Also:
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk returns to the US after China trip
- CEO Elon Musk meets Chinese FM as it eyes Tesla China expansion
- Abandoned Tesla Roadsters in China receive $2M bid
- Tesla aided China become the world’s strongest car exporter in Q1 2023
- China’s biggest diesel engine firm partners with BYD for battery supply
Chinese electric automaker BYD is comfortably the monthly and YTD rankings in all aspects, while the Musk-led automaker consistently follows it. It would be interesting to see how these rivals would fare in the following months.
