Car and City: Model Y ranks highest among locally-produced models in China by Jan.-May registrations

China's monthly registrations of locally-made passenger vehicles (PVs) reached 1,712,988 units in May 2023, jumping 34.76% from the previous year, while also climbing 9.86% from the previous month, according to the data compiled by Gasgoo Auto Research Institute (“GARI”).

For the Jan.-May period of this year, there were 7,367,580 homemade PVs registered across the Chinese mainland, representing an increase of 5.37% year-over-year.

The first five months of 2023 have generally witnessed a stable rising trend in the PV market. The price reduction spree that started in March has gradually subsided, but promotions still remain high. This, along with the release of a number of new models and lower-priced newcomers, has quelled consumer hesitations, thereby driving up shopping demands.

The Auto Shanghai 2023 served as a powerful platform propelling the exchange of advanced automobile technologies and fostering auto consumption. New product launches, car exhibitions, and a variety of promotional activities like voucher distributions have significantly bolstered consumer confidence.

In May 2023, three brands saw their monthly PV registrations in China exceed 100,000 units, namely, BYD, Volkswagen, and Toyota. Of the vehicles the German and Japanese brands registered last month, only 6.25% and 2.44% were contributed by new energy vehicles (NEVs, collectively referring to battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles).

The two China's indigenous brands—Changan and Geely, ranked 5th and 6th among all brands by May PV registrations, following Honda, who got 92,830 vehicles registered.

The German trio BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi ranked 8th, 10th, and 11th, respectively, by China-made PV registrations in May. In the same period, Tesla had 43,468 Shanghai-made vehicles registered in China, ranking 13th. The 14th to 18th places were all occupied by Chinese indigenous brands, namely, AION, HAVAL, Chery, Trumpchi, and Li Auto.

As for the Jan.-May registrations, BYD still outshone other brands in China, outselling the runner-up Volkswagen by 49,045 vehicles. The three major Japanese brands—Toyota, Honda, and Nissan—stood at the 3rd, 4th, and 10th places, respectively. Changan was the second best-performing brand wholly-owned by China.

Among all China-made PV models, Tesla saw its Model Y move up to the highest place by May registrations, while the Nissan Sylphy climbed two spots from the previous month to the runner-up place in May.

Among the top 10 PV models regarding May registrations, there were four members under the BYD brand. Of them, the Dolphin surpassed the Qin PLUS DM-i to the third place. The Yuan PLUS was honored the No. 2 SUV model, following the Model Y.

Both Wuling and AION brands had two models on the top 20 PV models list by May registrations, and all of them were battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

As for the year-to-date performance, the Model Y was also crowned the highest-ranking PV model in China.

Apart from the Model Y, there were still seven models whose respective Jan.-May registrations all exceeded 100,000 units.

In the rankings of top 10 China-made PV models by Jan.-May registrations, six were from Chinese indigenous brands, four of which were under the BYD brand.

Among cities on the Chinese mainland, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Beijing took the first four seats by May registrations, all of which had over 40,000 domestically-built PVs registered in the month.

As for the most popular models in major cities, the top 6 models by May registrations in Shanghai were all all-electric products, namely, the Model Y, the Dolphin, the Yuan PLUS, the Model 3, the Roewe Ei5, and the Han EV. Besides, the top two models in Guangzhou, a typical city in South China, were the AION S and the AION Y plus, while Beijing, as a representative of cities in North China, had the Model Y as its best-selling model last month.

For the Jan.-May period, a total of 12 cities had over 100,000 locally-made PVs registered each, of which the first two cities’ volumes both surpassed 200,000 units.

In May 2023, China's monthly locally-made new energy passenger vehicle (NEPV) registrations came in at 556,201 units, soaring 71.97% year on year, while also rising 13.63% month on month.

For the first five months of this year, the cumulative NEPV registrations in China leapt 42.71% over the prior-year period to 2,268,739 units.

By specific powertrain solutions, the BEV sector logged a registration volume of 380,540 units in May, accounting for 68.42% of the country's total NEPV registrations. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) registrations reached 175,633 units, which included 44,000 range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs).

There were 28 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) registered on the Chinese mainland in May, representing a tiny share of 0.01% in China's NEPV market.

Of the NEPVs registered in the first five months of this year, 68.29% were contributed by BEVs.

With respect to the NEPV registrations in May, BYD still took a remarkable lead over other brands. It had 205,359 NEPVs registered in the month, which were even more than the sum of the No.2-No.10 occupants. The U.S. EV brand Tesla was credited the runner-up, while AION and Wuling ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively.

Li Auto was the highest-ranking brand among Chinese NEV startups. The company made up 64.37% of the total REEV registrations in China last month, demonstrating the high attractiveness of its L series models to family users.

Meanwhile, Geely brand occupied the 8th place with the mini all-electric city car, the Panda mini, as its biggest NEV sales contributor. DENZA, a premium auto brand majority-owned by BYD, ranked 10th with an NEPV registration volume of 10,303 units.

In terms of the year-to-date NEPV registrations, the top five brands—BYD, Tesla, AION, Wuling, and Li Auto—all witnessed their cumulative registration volume surpass 100,000 units.

With regard to May registrations, the Model Y no doubt topped other homemade NEPV models. Four BYD-branded models—the Dolphin, the Qin PLUS DM-i, the Yuan PLUS, and the Song PLUS DM-i, took the 2nd to 5th spots among all locally made NEPV models.

Notably, the Wuling Binguo recorded a registration volume of 14,009 units in May, which were 5,544 more than that of the BYD Seagull, its rival product.

Judging from the Jan.-May performance, there were six NEPV models in total whose respective cumulative registrations all exceeded 100,000 units.

On the top 20 NEPV models list by year-to-date registrations, BYD held 11 spots in total (including the DENZA D9). Li Auto had two models, namely, the Li L8 and the Li L9, in the top 20 rankings.

In May 2023, Shanghai outdid other cities with 29,228 homemade NEPVs registered, which accounted for 50.2% of the city's overall PV registrations. It was closely followed by Chengdu and Guangzhou.

During this year’s first five months, there were 12 cities on the Chinese mainland with over 40,000 domestically built NEPVs registered each.