New BYD Tang
#1 in August
The Chinese PEV market hit its second best score this
year, with some 93,000 units registered in August, up only 62%, this slowdown from the three-digit growth rates of
previous months is explained by the fact that New
Energy subsidies were slashed to vehicles with range lower to 150 kms,
in June, so many small City EVs lost a large amount of sales.
In a falling mainstream market (-5% YoY), the
continued growth of the plugin market means that PEV share hit a new all-time best, ending the
month with 5.2%, while the 2018 share rose slightly, to 3.1% share, a new
record and well above the 2.1% of 2017, with sales expected to continue growing
as the year advances, the 2018 PEV share should end North of the 3% 4%
threshold (5%?), with December possibly reaching 7%.
Last month, the Chinese OEMs represented almost 50% of
all PEVs registered globally, an impressive number, that should increase during
2018.
With symbolic export numbers, the domestic market is
more than enough to absorb the current Chinese production, helped by the fact
that it is still a protected market and foreign OEMs hadn’t yet looked
seriously at this niche, but with PEV quotas to be fulfilled in the near
future, foreign brands are putting an effort, although this month, their share
was down 1%, to 6% share, due the sharp deliveries drop of Tesla (-70% YoY). Of
this (small) cake, 2% belong to Tesla (down 1%), and 2% to BMW, with the
remaining manufacturers sharing the final 2%.
In August, the headlining news were the new BYD Tang PHEV winning its first monthly
Best Seller award, while the Geely Emgrand
EV jumped to the Silver medal.
Here’s August
Top 5 Best Selling models individual performance:
#1 – BYD Tang PHEV: After only four months on the
market, the second-generation Tang won its first Best Seller award, thanks to 5,043 registrations, the nameplate’s
second best performance ever (record set in December’15, with 5,503 units).
Sales should continue strong for the successful sports-SUV, and a new personal
best could be achieved this year. As for the new generation, the BYD’s Cayenne saw the battery grow to 24 kWh,
originating an increased 100 kms range / 62 mi NEDC (around 70 kms / 44 mi real
world), while on the power department, things stayed the same, with some 500 hp
and 0-100 kms/h in less than 5 secs. All for CNY 279,800 / $40,816.
#2 – Geely
Emgrand EV: The
automaker bread and butter sedan got
some updates and most importantly, a new battery (52 kWh) and motor (160 hp),
increasing its range to 400kms / 250 mi NEDC (around 280 kms / 175 mi), and
sales have reflected this, with 4,647 units
in August, its best month since 2016. The best-selling Chinese brand (and Volvo
owner) is betting on the model strongpoints, like its quality and technology, that
compensate a middle-of-the-road design and price (CNY 218,300 / $31,834).
#3 – Chery
eQ: Chery was
one of the Chinese brands to bet early in plug-ins, having won the models title
three times in a row (2011, ’12, ’13), with its tiny QQ3 EV, now the automaker
is trying to regain relevance with the eQ, the spiritual (and material)
successor to the QQ3, having registered 4,613 units in August (year best), allowing it to collect another
Top 5 position last month. A vehicle marketed to city dwellers, for USD 24,000
before incentives, you get a funky city EV, with the 22kWh battery providing
just enough range (200 kms / 125 miles NEDC), to cover the needs of
the urban jungle.
#4 – BYD Yuan EV: We all knew that BYD’s new Baby Crossover was destined for success,
and with 4,487 deliveries in August
in only its third month on the market, the BAIC EC-Series should have a
fearsome competitor here. Are we witnessing the rise of the 2019 Best Selling
model? I guess it will depend more on BYD’s ability/willingness to make them in
volume, than actual demand, sitting on the vortex of the two fastest selling
segments (Compact Crossovers and EVs), with unrivalled specs (42 kWh battery,
305 kms/190 mi NEDC range, 174 hp motor), and price (25,000 USD), BYD might
have found in this new model its star player, crowning what it is already a
strong lineup.
#5 – JAC iEV S/E: JAC was
one of the EV pioneers in China, selling plug-ins since 2010, and now it’s back
at the game, registering 4,450 units last month. With a
competitive price of USD 26,000 before incentives, this is a vehicle targeted
at trendy urbanites that for some reason can’t reach a BYD Song or Roewe’s
eRX5, getting in return a good-looking compact vehicle (Kia Soul-sized), with
just enough power and range (114 hp & 251 kms/156 mi) to not to make it
look bad. Interestingly, the word on the street is that JAC has export
ambitions…
 |
| Hawtai xEV |
2018 ranking
There were
several changes this month, the most important being the JAC iEV S/E climbing
one position to Third Place, while both the Chery eQ and Geely Emgrand EV
jumped three positions, to #7 and #8, respectively.
But the
Climber of the Month was the BYD Tang, surging to #16, up 4 positions, with the
Sports SUV looking for a Top 10 in 2018.
Other models
on the rise were the Roewe Ei5, going up one position (#12), while the Hawtai
EV160 is slowly, but steadily, climbing the ranking latter, now up to #13.
Two new
models joined the Top 20, with the BYD Yuan EV jumping to #19 (will it reach
the Top 10 this year?), and making it the 5th BYD on the ranking,
while the Hawtai xEV is now #20, confirming Hawtai as the current market Dark Horse, no one mentions them, but
they are making their way…
Outside the
Top 20, a lot is going on, on the large sedan class, the Tesla Model S used to
rule with no real competition, but now the Geely Borui GE PHEV (2,455 units
last month) and BMW 530e (1,676) are leaving the Californian in the dust (288
deliveries for the Model S in August), and with the tariff war between the US
and China raging on, do not expect any recovery soon, leaving the BMW and Geely
alone for the race of the category best seller.
The Nio ES8
was the Best-Selling Luxury SUV last month (1,296 registrations), with the
Tesla Model X delivering less than 200 units, so the new startup model can have
a shot at removing Tesla from the yearly category leadership, it will be
interesting to see how this works out.
Looking at
the manufacturers ranking, BYD (20%, up 1%) is a comfortable leader, thanks to
the new Tang and Yuan, while the runner-up BAIC (13%, down 1%), is still losing
share, as the EC-Series struggles to get production in full swing, while the EX
& EU-Series are unable to fully compensate the EC drop.
In Third
Place, the Shanghai-based Roewe (11%) holds the last place of the podium, with
a significant advantage over the #4, Chery (6% share), and with BAIC now only 3%
above it, the SAIC brand is now going after the Silver medal.
