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| How high will the Kona EV go? |
Models: Hyundai Kona EV joins the Top 10
Registrations grew 29% YoY in April, to over 166.000 units, pulling the year to date count to over 662.000 (+52% YoY), and the April PEV share hitting 2,1%, in line with the 2019 result (2,1%).
The market slowdown can be mostly attributed to PHEVs, as BEVs grew faster than the plugin average, with +43% YoY, allowing them to outsell plugin hybrids, with all-electrics having 71% of the plugin market last month.
After March's record-breaking performance of the Tesla Model 3, this month things were noticeably quieter in the front, with the first position change happening only in #5, with the BYD e5 surpassing its BYD Tang PHEV sibling.
The Geely Emgrand EV climbed one spot, to #8, and with the #7 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV only 693 units ahead, the Chinese sedan could climb higher soon.
Two small Chinese EVs climbed positions last month, with the Chery eQ (4.129 units, new year best), climbing to #11, while the JAC iEV E-Series jumped two spots, to #18.
The Hyundai Kona EV continues to climb the ranking steps, now joining the Top 10, and could rise even further as the year (and battery supply) develops;
Finally, a mention to two models, with the BMW 530e/Le twins jumping two spots, to #13, thanks to 4.431 units, with the majority of them being registered in China, while the Roewe Ei5 hit a year best score of 4.003 registrations, now being the Best Selling SAIC in the ranking.
Manufacturers: Tesla and BYD play in a different league
April saw Tesla and BYD run at neck-breaking pace, with both almost doubling the deliveries of the #3 SAIC.
For now, BYD is running ahead, with close to a 9.000 units lead, that should keep it in #1 in May, but with Tesla expected to have another deliveries peak in June, things can change then.
Returning to the little league, in the race for the 3rd spot, SAIC won some lead over the competition, with BAIC sinking and BMW and Nissan climbing one spot each.
Looking elsewhere, Volkswagen had a record performance, with 8.235 registrations, most of them coming from China, so we could be witnessing the first moments of the "Empire Strikes Back" move, and that's still without the ID family (and new Passat GTE) reaching the market...It seems the news of the VW death were widely exagerated, weren't they?
JAC jumped two spots, to #13, and the #15 Chery were the climbers of the month, but the most surprising move was Toyota climbing two spots, to #17, mostly thanks to their Chinese operations (read PHEV Corolla), that outsold the Prius PHEV.
So, BMW, VW and Toyota were all benefiting from the Chinese market to climb positions in the ranking. Do you see a trend here?...
The rise and rise of Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and soon Daimler, JLR, PSA will be mainly due to... PHEVs.
ReplyDeleteUnless they replace those PHEV in time by BEV, it will be the rise and fall of . . . . .
DeleteVW hasn't much to worry about, BMW, Daimler and PSA are more or less in danger, while JLR is being hampered by its ICE operations and Toyota's denial are making them more and more at risk.
DeleteWho was talking about Volkswagen's death? I think it's been pretty clear for a while -- despite the usual delays -- that among legacy makers, VW is now likely the most serious about EVs going forward...
ReplyDeleteThough that will only start unfolding with the ID. models next year -- we aren't there yet. I don't think putting their badge on a bunch of Chinese models really deserves to be described as "the Empire striking back"?...
(Also, while VW is fairly high in terms of absolute EV numbers, they are actually doing way worse then many others in relation to their combustion car market share...)
BTW, it's kinda satisfying to see the mediocre Prius PHEV almost dropping out of the top 20... Though it's not satisfying to see the even worse BMW 530e above it :-( I wonder whether the Chinese sales are also mostly to fleet customers who never actually charge them?
I have heard some fanatics talking about VW death, hence the comment.
DeleteI believe that in this month, Model 3 overtook the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV as the #3 best selling PEV of all time. The top five that I'm aware of are now:
ReplyDelete1 - 416K - Nissan Leaf
2 - 270K - Tesla Model S
3 - 215K - Tesla Model 3
4 - 203K - Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
5 - 173K - BAIC EC-Series
Is there any other PEVs that I'm forgetting that have higher cumulative global sales numbers? There's a rotating cast of vehicles that sell really well for a ~year in China, but they never seem to maintain momentum for more than ~20 months, mostly keeping them from entering this list...
What happened to the BAIC EC series?
ReplyDeleteIt was almost best selling car model last year.
Sales imploded and BAIC is now betting on the larger EU-Series sedan as their main model.
DeleteIs it possible that with the upcoming drastic cuts to subsidies, along with increased eligibility requirements for the remaining ones, BAIC decided that it's simply not worthwhile pursing low-cost EVs any more?...
DeleteI feel the heavy-handed policy of the Chinese government is doing the opposite of its stated goal of boosting competitiveness of the Chinese EV makers: with all these sudden changes regularly disrupting the business, it's basically impossible to plan serious future technology investments...
I have to agree on that one, let's hope these changes do not hurt too much the Chinese NEV industry, as they are one of the Engines of Growth for the EV Revolution.
Delete