Car and City: China’s monthly new energy passenger vehicle registrations hit all-time high in Dec. 2023

For the year of 2023, China's annual registrations of locally-made passenger vehicles (PVs) amounted to 21,103,051 units, climbing 6.25% from the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Gasgoo Auto Research Institute ("GARI"). 

For clarity, the PVs hereby refer to the vehicles locally produced and registered on the Chinese Mainland.

In Dec. 2023 alone, there were 2,470,018 domestically made PVs registered across the Chinese Mainland, representing a slight 0.22% year-on-year growth and a 28.85% month-on-month jump.  

In the last month of 2023, the retail sector of the PV market experienced a substantial uptick, fueled by a joint effort from car manufacturers sprinting towards year-end targets and regional initiatives to boost car consumption. The sales promotion efforts in Dec. were characterized by enhanced incentives, impacting almost all manufacturers and car models, reflecting an unusual push towards the year-end sales boost.

In addition, the promotional intensity in Dec. persisted, with a focus on key hotter-selling models in specific market segments, demonstrating a continued commitment to achieving sales targets through price incentives. Besides, regional car purchase subsidies, many of which are set to conclude monthly or annually in January 2024, are expected to contribute to sustaining high sales volumes at the end of the year.

At the national level, there has been a frequent issuance of policy guidelines targeting the automobile industry, aimed at further stabilizing and expanding car consumption. China's Ministry of Commerce has actively promoted the "Hundred Cities Collaboration" automobile festival and the "Thousand Counties, Ten Thousand Towns" new energy vehicle consumption season, with evident position results generated. Many regions are continuously exerting efforts in implementing consumption-stimulating policies, and the collaborative efforts between government policies and corporate sales promotions provide stable support for the end-of-year automotive market.

Among all brands with locally-produced PVs available for sale on the Chinese Mainland, BYD and Volkswagen were the only two whose monthly registrations exceeded 200,000 units in Dec. 2023 each. Notably, Volkswagen scored an impressive growth of 32.46% compared to the previous month, with its Dec. registrations only 3,007 units fewer than that of BYD.  

As for the top-ranking one, BYD saw its monthly registrations surpass 250,000 units in the final month of 2023. Among BYD-branded PVs registered in Dec., battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) recorded a volume of 133,958 units and 122,781 units, respectively. 

The third and fourth seats by Dec. PV registrations were taken by the two main Japanese brands--Toyota and Honda. Although both of them are proactively boosting electrification progress in the world's largest auto market, their majority of registrations was still contributed by internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). To be specific, gasoline-powered vehicles accounted for 65.02% and 89.3% of Toyota's and Honda's Dec. registrations, respectively.

China's domestic brands Geely, Changan, and Wuling ranked 5th, 7th, and 8th, respectively, by Dec. PV registrations. With only two BEV models for sale in China, Tesla held the 10th spot with 74,264 China-made vehicles registered in the same month. Moreover, the German trio-BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz--stood at the 10th, 11th, and 17th places. 

Additionally, some regulars in the top 20 brands rankings, such as Chery, Haval, Hongqi, Li Auto, AION, and Trumpchi, still made appearances in Dec., displaying the improved presence of China's local brands. 

Among the top 20 locally-built PV models by Dec. registrations, 9 models were new energy vehicles (NEVs), 6 of which were under the BYD brand. The highest-ranking one, Tesla's Model Y, was also credited the best-performing PV model with 58,821 vehicles registered, posting a 101.32% spike year-on-year and a 17.8% increase month-on-month. In addition, Wuling brand's two BEV models--the Binguo and the Hongguang MINIEV--were the other two NEV models listed in the top 20 PV models rankings.

The ICEV products took 11 spots on the top 20 PV models list by Dec. registrations. The best-performing one was the Sylphy, which had 57,209 units registered and was immediately followed by Sagitar. The Lavida and the CR-V ranked 5th and 6th among all PV models, both of which recorded a Dec. Registration volume exceeding 30,000 units. The Changan CS75 was the top-ranking one among the ICEV models under China’s wholly-owned brands. 

Among cities on the Chinese Mainland, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu secured the top 4 places regarding Dec. homemade PV registrations. Shanghai top others with monthly registrations approaching 90,000 units. In the megacity, the top 4 models by Dec. registrations were all BEVs, namely, the Model Y (8,718 units), Yuan PLUS (3,454 units), the IM LS6 (2,658 units), and the Model 3 (2,534 units).

It is noteworthy that NEVs took up 63.01%, 43.66%, 32.54%, and 38.1% of the Dec. locally made PV registrations of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu, respectively. 

In Dec. 2023, the new energy passenger vehicle (NEPV) sector on the Chinese Mainland saw its monthly registrations hit a new high of 886,395 units, which jumped 25.82%% from the year-ago period, rose 16.23% from a month earlier, and accounted for 39.78% of the total nationwide PV registrations. 

For the whole year of 2023, the cumulative NEPV registrations across the Chinese Mainland leapt 38.39% year on year to 7,237,259 units, which represented 34.29% share in the overall PV market. 

In terms of the distribution of various powertrain solutions, BEVs constituted 62.29% of China's NEPV registrations in Dec. Meanwhile, PHEV registrations totaled 334,216 units during the month (encompassing 99,895 REEVs), comprising 37.71% of the counrty's overall NEPV registrations.

What's more, there were 8 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) registered on the Chinese Mainland in Dec. However, due to the minimal quantity, their percentage can be considered negligible. 

Regarding Dec. registrations by locally-produced NEPVs, BYD topped other brands with registrations reaching 256,739 units, the highest volume it has ever achieved on a monthly basis. On December 15, the fire new mid-sized all-electric SUV, the Song L, hit the market with a starting price of 189,800 yuan. In this month, the new SUV model recorded a registration volume of 2,024 units.

As for regional distribution, the top 3 cities by Dec. registrations of BYD-branded PHEVs were Shenzhen, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou, while the top 3 ones for BYD-branded BEVs were Shanghai, Zhengzhou, and Wuxi. 

Tesla was honored the runner-up among brands by Dec. China-made NEPV registrations. Among all cities, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou topped others with 11,252, 8,507, and 5,403 homemade Tesla's vehicles registered in the month.  

Capitalizing on the popularity of the Wuling Binguo and the Hongguang MINIEV, the Wuling brand recorded a NEPV registration volume of 56,642 units in Dec., which made up 62.08% of the brand's overall PV registrations. Apart from the aforementioned two hotter-selling BEV models, the Wuling Xingguang, the first sedan model under the Wuling brand, had 8,085 units registered in the month, which were composed of 8,079 PHEV units and 6 BEV units.

AITO, the cooperative brand between Huawei and SERES Group, was credited the No. 7 brand with 24,737 units registered in Dec., 83.49% of which were contributed by the AITO M7.

Surpassing NIO and XPeng, Leapmotor ranked 9th among all NEPV models by Dec. Registrations.

BMW held the 17th spot with over 11,777 China-made NEPVs registered in Dec. 2023, outperforming Lynk & Co, Buick, and DENZA. The biggest sales contributor to the German auto giant's NEV business in the month was the BMW i3. 

Regarding Dec. registrations, the top 20 NEPV models contained 13 BEV models and 3 PHEV models, and 4 REEV models. The PHEVs listed in the top 20 rankings were all from the BYD brand, namely, the Song LUS DM-i (3rd), the Song Pro DM-i (4th), and the Qin PLUS DM-i (5th), while 3 of the 4 REEV models on this list all came from Li Auto's Li Series.

In December, Tesla's Model Y surpassed BYD's Seagull, securing the top spot among all NEPV models with over 58,000 units registered. 

In Dec., Shanghai continued to surpass other cities, registering 56,519 domestically-produced NEPVs, which constituted 63.01% of the city's total PV registrations. Guangzhou had over 30,000 NEPVs registered in the month, and the respective monthly registrations of Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an, Beijing, and Zhengzhou all stood between 20,000 units and 30,000 units.