China June 2017

BYD Dynasty Concept

BYD turns on Warp Speed

The Chinese market had more than 43.000 new EV's zooming the streets last month, with the market growing below expectations, at 16% YoY, this performance from China feels like when LeBron James scores 28 points in a NBA Finals game, it would be a great score for anyone else, but people expect more from the star of the team.

Anyway, the EV market share grew to 1.5%, already beating last year record (1.45%), expect that as the year progresses and sales expand, the Chinese PEV market to surpass the 2% share by year end.

This is still a highly protected market, where 93% of sales belong to domestic brands. Of the 7% left for foreign brands, 6% belong to Tesla, with the remaining 1% divided by all other auto makers.

In June the Zhidou D2 EV was once again the best-selling model, surpassing BAIC’s golden boy EC180 in the lead of the YTD ranking, while BYD has beaten the Manufacturers all-time sales record, by registering 11.198 units last month, stepping up the pace and surpassing the previous leader Beijing Auto in the race for the Best Selling manufacturer.

Here’s June Top 5 Best Selling models individual performance:

 

#1 – Zhidou D2 EV: Bare-basics city vehicle that doesn’t inspire anyone, but surely continues to be delivered in record quantities (4.714 units in June), probably thanks to big fleet deals. This vehicle is sold as a Quadricycle (Think Renault Twizy class) in some European countries, with the following specs: 12 kWh battery, 120 kms range, 90 kms max.speed, all this for some 16.000€.

#2 – BYD Song PHEV: This is BYD’s “Model Y”, a VW Tiguan-sized SUV, here in plug-in hybrid version (The BEV has had its first units registered this month), in only its second full sales month, it registered 4.552 units, the second best score ever for a BYD model, with the Tang record of 5.503 units (Back in December ’15) probably being beaten this summer. Why is this model so disruptive? A) It is an SUV, and we know how they are sucking up sales everywhere (For some reason its sedan counterpart, the Qin, disappeared from the spotlight, expect something similar to happen somewhere in 2020 to the Tesla Model 3), and B) It has the same impressive specs that its larger brother Tang has (18.4 kWh battery, 70 kms range, 0-100 kms/h in 4.9 secs), but with a more affordable price (41.300 USD), which will make it the strongest candidate for the monthly Best Seller trophies in the coming months.

#3 – Chery eQ EV: A consistent seller in China, the funky Chery eQ sold a record 3.466 units in June, this is one of my favorite Chinese urban EVs, for 22.000 Euro before incentives you get a decently equipped city car, with 22kWh battery and 200 kms range, with the only drawback being the weak engine (56 hp, 100 kms/h top speed), Add a bit more power to the engine and you could have a valuable competitor to the current crop of worldwide city EV's, as the Mitsubishi triplets are showing their age, the VW e-Up! is pricey, and the Smart Forfour ED…Well, it looks too goofy for my taste (What were Smart designers smoking when did this last generation?!?).

#4 – BYD e5: The Plain Jane BYD e5 sedan continues to impress, delivering another record performance (The third in a row), with 3.206 units last month. A favorite among taxi companies, along with its e6 older brother, the low key e5 actually has a lot going for it, spec-wise: 305 kms range from a 48 kWh battery and a healthy 218 hp, all for 230.000 Yuan (33.400$). A wolf in sheep’s clothing, isn’t it?

#5 – JAC iEV6S: A vehicle in the intersection of the two hottest trends in China, Crossovers and EV’s, success seemed to escape it due to battery production constraints, but those days are now a thing of the past, having scored a record 3.001 deliveries last month, expect this Nissan Juke-sized Crossover to be a frequent sight here in the coming months, not only it has an attractive design, inside and out, but also decent specs: 114 hp, 251 kms range coming from a 33 kWh battery provided by Samsung.

BYD Yuan: The final piece in BYD's SUV trifecta should arrive in a few months

Year-to-Date Ranking – Zhidou D2 and BYD new Kings

The big news were of course the rise to #1 of the Tin Lizzie Zhidou D2 EV, with the BYD e5 finally reaching the podium, while the JAC iEV6S continues to climb the ladder, now jumping to #5.

But the sensation of the month was the BYD Song PHEV, shooting to #8 in only its second full month on the market, expect it in July to reach the Top 5 and maybe even the podium by the end of Summer.

A reference for both Teslas being present at the Top 20, by far the most successful foreign models, with the Third Best Selling overseas model being the BMW X1 PHEV, with an estimated 600 units delivered.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BYD (19%, up 2%) is back at the Iron Throne, replacing the previous leader BAIC (17%, down 1%), with Warp Speed now turned on, expect BYD to distance itself from the competition at lightning speed.

In Third Place and without immediate pretensions to be the King of the Realm, we have  Zhidou, with 10% share, followed by SAIC (7%).

Pl	China	June	YTD	%
1	Zhidou D2 EV	4714	18693	10
2	BAIC EC180	2563	17939	10
3	BYD e5	3206	10826	6
4	SAIC Roewe eRX5 PHEV	1541	9205	5
5	JAC iEV6S	3001	8197	5
6	Geely Emgrand EV	478	7982	4
7	BYD Tang	1573	7502	4
8	BYD Song PHEV	4552	6838	4
9	Chery eQ	3466	6605	4
10	JMC E100	1153	6136	3
11	Changan Benni EV	1778	6064	3
12	Zotye E200	1568	5949	3
13	BAIC EU260	1333	5691	3
14	Kandi EV	315	4804	3
15	Tesla Model S e)	1600	4785	3
16	Tesla Model X e)	500	4514	3
17	BYD Qin EV300	593	4117	2
18	Zotye Cloud EV	1568	3687	2
19	JMC E200	759	3657	2
20	BAIC EX200	520	3577	2
	Others	7110	32380
	TOTAL	43891	179148

Published also in EVObsession and CleanTechnica