Car and City: China’s new energy passenger vehicle registrations surge 81% YoY in 2022

China's monthly registrations of locally-made passenger vehicles (PVs) reached 2,464,552 units in Dec. 2022, rising 11.9% from the previous year, while also jumping 57.24% from the previous month, according to the data compiled by Gasgoo Auto Research Institute ("GARI").

For the whole year of 2022, there were 19,862,248 domestically built PVs registered across the Chinese mainland, representing a 2.01% decrease from a year earlier despite the two-digit year-on-year growth in the Dec. volume.

In the last month of 2022, Volkswagen regained the champion honor among all brands in terms of monthly registrations of China-made PVs. BYD dropped one spot from the previous month to the runner-up place, outselling Toyota by 1,010 units.

The other two major Sino-Japanese brands—Honda and Nissan—ranked 4th and 7th, respectively, with 152,793 and 94,010 China-made PVs registered in Dec. Both Changan and Geely had over 100,000 PVs registered last month to show the blooming rise of Chinese indigenous brands. Compared to the previous-month rankings, Tesla slid 11 spots to the 17th.

Among all China-made PV models, the Sylphy and the Lavida took the top 2 places by Dec. 2022 registrations. The Song PLUS DM-i was the highest-ranking one under a China's wholly-owned brand and also the best-performing SUV model. The Wuling Hongguang MINIEV ranked sixth, which was immediately followed by Tesla's Model Y.

On the list of the top 20 homemade PV models by Dec. registrations, there were six new energy vehicle (NEV) models, namely, the Song PLUS DM-i, the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, the Model Y, the Dolphin, the Yuan PLUS, and the Song Pro DM, four of which were from the BYD brand.

In terms of the full-year registrations, the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV topped other China-made PV models with over 400,000 units registered in total. The Model Y ranked fourth among all PV models, and was also the best-selling SUV model. Both the BMW 5 Series and 3 Series cracked the top 20 models list, and were the only two models from the three German luxury brands.

Regarding regional distribution in Dec. 2022, Shanghai still registered the most locally-built PVs, outselling the runner-up, Guangzhou, by 37,695 units. Both Hangzhou and Chengdu dropped one spot from the previous month to the third and fourth place in Dec. The two metropolises—Beijing and Shenzhen—ranked 5th and 8th, respectively.

The top-ranking city by annual PV registrations was still Shanghai. The top 4 cities all recorded a yearly registration volume above 500,000 units.

In Dec. 2022, China's monthly locally-made new energy passenger vehicle (NEPV) registrations came in at 704,474 units, surging 46.27% from the previous year, while also jumping 32.32% over a month ago.

For the entire year of 2022, a total of 5,229,487 locally-made NEPVs were registered across the Chinese mainland, indicating an 80.69% soar from a year ago.

By specific powertrain solutions, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) logged a registration volume of 516,548 units in Dec., accounting for 73.32% of the country's total NEPV registrations. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) registrations reached 187,914 units, which included 37,809 range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs).

There were 12 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) registered across the Chinese mainland last month. However, its market share was hereby omitted due to its tiny quantity.

Of the NEPVs registered last year, 75.96% and 24.04% were contributed by BEVs and PHEVs (including REEVs), respectively. The annual FCEV registrations amounted to 226 units in China.

Regarding the NEPV registrations in Dec., BYD took a remarkable lead over other brands. It had 216,505 NEPVs registered last month, which were even more than the sum of the No.2-No.7 occupants. The U.S. EV brand Tesla was honored the runner-up with over 40,000 China-made vehicles registered.

It is evident that Chinese local brands were in the majority among the top 20 brands by local-made NEPV registrations in Dec. It is noteworthy that the three Chinese NEV startups—HOZON Auto (NETA), Li Auto, and NIO—were all on the top 10 rankings.

With respect to Dec. registrations, the Song PLUS DM-i ranked highest among all homemade NEPV models. On the top 20 NEPV models list, there were ten from BYD brand, six of which entered the top 10 rankings. Both the Model Y and Model 3 entered the top 20 NEPV models list, but the former's registrations were more than double that of the latter. The NETA V still featured the most Dec. registrations among those owned by Chinese NEV startups.

In terms of annual registrations in 2022, the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV was no doubt the best-performing locally-built NEPV model. The Model Y recorded a full-year registration volume of 316,468 units, which made the SUV the second-best-selling NEPV model in the country. BYD gained ten seats on the top 20 NEPV models list, seven of which were in the top 10 rankings.

In Dec. 2022, Shanghai outshone other cities on the Chinese mainland by registering more than 50,000 China-made NEPVs, which accounted for 55.8% of the city's overall PV registrations. Hangzhou was the other city with over 30,000 NEPVs registered last month.

In 2022, there were ten cities with over 100,000 NEPVs registered each, and nine cities seeing their respective NEPV registrations stand between 70,000 units and 100,000 units.