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| 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
|
|
