Five out of China’s six biggest electric vehicle-makers posted record sales for the month of September as a range of discounts and promotions helped reignite demand on the mainland.
BYD led the pack with a nearly 46% growth in year-on year sales of new electric vehicles (NEVs). NEVs include all-electric and plug-in hybrid sales.
The carmaker — which is racing to take over Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles — saw a bumper month, selling 419,426 NEVs, according to data from CnEVPost.
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Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD were up nearly 6% on Wednesday. The company’s US-listed American depositary receipts (ADRs) were up 5% on Tuesday and another 2% on Wednesday.
This was the first time the carmaker topped the 400,000 mark in monthly sales, while also shipping more than 1 million vehicles in a single quarter.
Of BYD’s shipments in September, sales of battery-electric vehicles stood at 164,956 units and those of plug-in hybrids stood at 252,647 units. BYD’s hybrid vehicle sales, meanwhile, were up more than 86% year-on year, in keeping with the larger trend in global auto markets.
Hybrids have emerged as a more acceptable solution for car buyers who want to switch to more sustainable transportation, but may not be ready to make the leap to a full electric vehicle.
Analysts say the trend towards hybrids is expected to persist until pure EVs can compete on price with petrol cars worldwide, batteries offer longer driving ranges, and more charging stations are rolled out.
Hybrid-makers on top
That trend has also meant that Chinese brands with strong hybrid line-ups — like BYD, Li Auto and Stellantis-backed Leapmotor — are emerging as winners on the mainland.
Like BYD, Li Auto also saw a month of bumper sales. The carmaker shipped a record 53,709 vehicles in September — up 48.94 percent year-on-year. The carmaker is the most popular extended-range (EREV) hybrid seller in China.
Li Auto’s Hong Kong-listed shares jumped a whopping 12% on Wednesday. The company’s ADRs in the US were also up nearly 12% on Tuesday and jumped another 4% as trade opened on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Leapmotor delivered 33,767 NEVs in September, setting a sales record for a fourth consecutive month. That marked a 113.7% jump in year-on-year sales.
But hybrid vehicle brands were not the only ones to see a bumper month. Top makers of pure EVs — like Zeekr and Xpeng — managed to hit record sales as well.
Zeekr’s deliveries were up nearly 77% year-on-year at 21,333 units, while Xpeng sold a record 21,352 electric vehicles — up 39.46% year-on-year. Both carmakers are also planning to ride the hybrid wave, with plans to launch their own EREV models next year.
Nio was the only major Chinese carmaker that missed hitting record deliveries, but still saw sales grow by more than 35%.
- Vishakha Saxena
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