China’s production, wholesales of new energy passenger cars surge at least 30% YoY in Apr.

Beijing (Gasgoo)- In the fourth month of 2024, China’s new energy passenger vehicle market achieved a respective 33.5% and 30% year-on-year surge in production and wholesale volumes, which stood at 802,000 vehicles and 785,000 units, according to data provided by the China Passenger Car Association.

Notably, 39.9% of the total passenger vehicles wholesaled in April were new energy vehicles (NEVs), up 6 percentage points from that of a year ago. NEVs made up 53.6% of the monthly wholesales made by China's indigenous brands, and the numbers came in at 31.5% for luxury vehicle brands and only 6.8% for mainstream joint-venture brands in the country. 

Powertrain-wise, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 59% of the total Apr. wholesale volume in China, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at 32%, and range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) at 9%.

Photo credit: BYD

In April, a total of 11 passenger car models achieved a monthly wholesale volume exceeding 2 million units, 8 of which were NEVs, including the top 6 ones. BYD's Song continued to lead the pack with 80,860 units wholesaled last month, followed by the BYD Qin with 51,170 units, the BYD Seagull with 34,832 units, the BYD Destroyer 05 with 32,800 units, Tesla’s Model Y with 31,962 units, and Model 3 with 30,205 units.

Overall, China’s new energy passenger vehicle market demonstrated robust growth in April. With a diverse lineup of NEVs, the market continues to expand, with 14 NEV makers selling over 10,000 vehicles, accounting for 86.6% of total new energy passenger vehicle wholesale volume. BYD maintained its leadership position with 312,048 NEVs wholesaled last month, and Tesla China followed with a monthly figure of 62,167 units.

Photo credit: AITO

As to retail performance in April, China’s NEV market realized a 28.3% year-on-year jump in retail sales, which amounted to 674,000 vehicles.

NEVs accounted for 41.6% of the total retail volume of passenger cars in the past month, which climbed up 11.7 percentage points from the same period last year. To be specific, 66.8% of the passenger cars retailed by China’s indigenous brands in April were NEVs. Meanwhile, NEVs constituted 22.6% and 7.5% of luxury brands and mainstream joint ventures’ retail volume.

China’s mainstream indigenous brands dominated the NEV market last month with a 64% share, up 2 percentage points from a year ago. Joint-venture brands’ NEV market share slipped 0.8 percentage points year on year to 4.3%, while Chinese NEV startups holding an 11.8% share, which indicated a 0.5 percentage points growth year-on-year.

Photo credit: Tesla

The US electric vehicle rockstar Tesla witnessed a 2.6 percentage points decline in April, holding 4% of China's NEV market.

In the fourth month of this year, a total of 115,000 NEVs were exported by automakers in China, representing a 26.8% increase year-over-year and accounting for 27.9% of the total passenger car export volume. BEVs made up 78.8% of the total NEV exports in April.

BYD (41,011 units), Tesla China (30,746 units), and SAIC MOTOR Passenger Vehicle (6,048 units) were the top 3 exporters of NEVs in the past month.