December 25 – 31 was week #52 of 2023, and its final. BYD grew 20% to 76,800 units, Tesla fell 15% to 15,800, and Nio grew 39% to 5,700 vehicles compared with the week before.
The weekly data were published by Li Auto, and they represent weekly sales. The background data are weekly insurance registrations. The numbers are rounded and present new energy vehicles (NEV), the Chinese term for BEVs, PHEVs, and EREVs (range extenders). To be completely precise, it also includes hydrogen vehicles (FCEVs), but their sales are almost non-existent in China.
BYD jumped 20.19% from 63,900 to 76,800 vehicles week-on-week. In December, 256,800 BYD vehicles were insured in China.
BYD produced 308,972 vehicles in December and sold 341,043, meaning the dealer stores were empty by the end of the year. BYD offered a lot of discounts and perks in December to reach its annual target of 3 million sold vehicles. On Monday, the company revealed it reached its target and sold 3.02 million vehicles in 2023, up 62% from the year before.
In December, BYD sold 56% BEV and 44% PHEV vehicles. In 2023, the annual ratio was 52.3% to 47.7% BEV: PHEV.
BYD Song L is the biggest surprise of December, as the Tesla Model Y competitor sold 10,003 units only two weeks after the December 15 launch.
Tesla registered 15,800 insured vehicles, down 14.59% from 18,500 the week before. In December, 76,000 Tesla vehicles were insured in China.
In December, Bloomberg reported that the Tesla Shanghai plant would start mass production of the updated Model Y, codenamed Juniper, in mid-2024. Tesla China began production of a revised Model 3 codenamed HIghland in September in Giga Shanghai.
The end of 2023 differed from the end of 2022 when Tesla started a price war in China with radical discounts for its lineup. In October and November, China slightly raised prices three times in a row for its whole lineup in China – Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla sold 94,139 China-made vehicles in December; those numbers include domestic sales and exports.
Nio insured 5,700 vehicles, up 39.02% from 4,100 units the week before. In December, Nio insured 17,700 EVs in China.
In December, Nio reported it delivered 18,012 EVs in China.
The last week of the year was record-breaking also for Li Auto, which reported 14,100 registrations, up 16.53% from 12,100 the previous week. In December, Li Auto insured 50,500 vehicles in China.
Li Auto reported deliveries of 50,353 vehicles in December, surpassing the 50,000 milestone for the first time.
Li Auto sells only three models, all SUVs and electric range extended vehicles (EREVs). EREV is a type of plugin hybrid, where a small ICE only works as a power generator for the battery and is not connected to the wheels.
Li Auto plans to launch its first all-electric vehicle – Li Mega MPV – On March 1. Initially, the launch was supposed to happen in December, and deliveries would start in February, but it was postponed.
Huawei’s Aito insured 5,900 EVs, down 1.67% from the week before. Xpeng insured 4,800 EVs up 23.08 WoW. The Zeekr was one of the biggest growers with 50% up WoW and insuring 4,200 units.
December 1 – December 31 insurance registrations in China:
- BYD: 256,800
- Tesla: 76,000
- Li Auto: 50,500
- Aito: 24,500
- Nio: 17,700
- Leapmotor: 17,600
- Xpeng: 17,300
- Deepal: 14,600
- Zeekr: 12,300
- Denza: 10,900
- IM: 9,600
- Voyah: 7,400
December deliveries of NEVs self-reported by automakers:
- BYD 341,043*
- Li Auto: 50,353
- Aito:24,468
- Xpeng: 20,115
- Leapmotor: 18,618
- Nio: 18,012
- Zeekr: 13,476
- IM: 10,412
- Voyah: 10,017
- Neta: 5,135
*globally, includes Denza, YangWang, Fang Cheng Bao brands
