Tesla’s popular electric crossover Model Y continues to lead the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment in the world’s largest automotive market, China.
EV-Volumes market analyst José Pontes reported via CleanTechnica that the Tesla Model Y sales reached 41,428 units in September alone.
Chinese EV industry’s September performance
China’s plugin vehicle sales surged 22% year-on-year to over 776,000 units in September, marking the second consecutive month of the segment achieving its highest record.
This remarkable sales growth also enabled the segment to claim 37% of the overall market. The data further revealed that BEVs contributed 25% to China’s total vehicle sales in the same period.
Year to date, plugin vehicle sales already reached more than 5.4 million units. Considering the current growth trend, the industry expects the country’s plugin vehicle segment to hit a 40% market share by the end of the year.
Tesla North also noted that China’s plugin vehicles accounted for more than 60% of the world’s plugin registrations last month.
Top-selling EV models
Presented below are the top-selling plugin vehicle models in China in September 2023:
| Rankings | Models | Sales |
| 1 | BVD Song (BEV+PHEV) | 62,840 |
| 2 | BYD Qin Plus (BEV+PHEV) | 43,002 |
| 3 | Tesla Model Y | 41,428 |
| 4 | BYD Seagull | 35,011 |
| 5 | BYD Yuan Plus | 28,727 |
| 6 | GAC Aion Y | 26,969 |
| 7 | BYD Dolphin | 24,282 |
| 8 | BYD Han (BEV+PHEV) | 22,794 |
| 9 | GAC Aion S | 21,546 |
| 10 | Wuling Bingo | 19,606 |
As you can see, the Tesla Model Y led the rankings in terms of all-electric vehicle sales with 41,428 units. The BYD Seagul trailed behind it with only 35,011 sales.
However, BYD’s Song family was in first place in the overall plugin vehicle sales ranking, including BEV and PHEV models. It sold a total of 62,640 units, followed by the Qin Plus family, with sales of 43,002 units.
Leading automotive brands and groups
The report also revealed the most popular automotive brands in China in September 2023. Refer to the table below:
| Rankings | Brands | Share |
| 1 | BYD | 35.0% |
| 2 | Tesla | 8.1% |
| 3 | GAC Aion | 6.6% |
| 4 | SGMW | 5.4% |
| 5 | Li Auto | 4.5% |
BYD’s significant lead is unsurprising, considering its wide range of electric vehicle offerings, from all-electrics to plugin hybrids. In contrast, Tesla only offers a limited portfolio of BEVs.
Meanwhile, here are the top-selling automotive groups for electric vehicles in the same period:
| Rankings | Brands | Share |
| 1 | BYD | 36.7% |
| 2 | Tesla | 8.1% |
| 3 | SAIC | 7.1% |
| 4 | GAC | 7.1% |
| 5 | Geely–Volvo | 5.9% |
BYD’s lead remains unprecedented, with a market share of 36.7%. Tesla trailed far behind with only 8.1% market share in September.
Despite failing to beat BYD in the Chinese plugin vehicle market, Tesla is still remarkable for being the only foreign automaker to match local brands’ fast pace.
Tesla recently launched a minor revamp on the Model Y, expecting the e-crossover to further attract Chinese customers in the coming quarters.
