The China EV market had mixed signals in the third week of December. Nio insurance registrations were up 23%, Xiaomi was up 3%, BYD was down 10%, and Tesla was down 5% compared with the week before. Nio’s brand Onvo registered 2,090 units of its L60 SUV, up 22%.
Week 51 (W51) of the year was between December 16 and 22. Week 51 of 2023, used for year-on-year comparison, was between December 18 and 24.
The weekly sales are published by Li Auto, and despite Li’s not explicitly saying it, they are based on insurance registration data. The numbers are rounded and present new energy vehicles (NEV) sales, 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. Onvo registrations are not published by Li Auto but come from China EV DataTracker.
BYD secured the top position with 87,700 insurance registrations in China, down 10.3% from 97,800 units the week before and up 37.3% from 63,900 units in the same week the previous year. The cumulative registrations through December (between Dec 2 and 22) are 270,500 units.
BYD sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). In November, 40% of the vehicles sold were BEVs, while 60% were PHEVs.
Wuling reported 19,800 registrations, a 9.2% decline from 21,800 units the previous week but a 45.59% rise from 13,600 units in the same week last year. The cumulative total for December is 63,000 units.
Tesla registered 17,600 insurance units in China, down 4.9% from 18,500 units the week before and 4.86% lower than the 18,500 units in the same week the previous year. The cumulative registrations through December (between Dec 2 and 22) are 58,000 units.
Li Auto recorded 13,900 insurance registrations, a slight decline of 1.4% from 14,100 units the previous week but up 14.88% from 12,100 units in the same week last year. The cumulative registrations for December are 40,600 units.
Geely recorded 11,700 registrations, a 9.3% decline from 12,900 units the previous week. Year-over-year data is not available. The December cumulative figure is 32,100 units.
Stellantis-backed Leapmotor achieved 10,300 registrations, a 3.0% increase from 10,000 units the week before and a remarkable 145.24% rise from 4,200 units in the same week last year. The cumulative total for December is 28,800 units.
Huawei’s Aito reported 7,700 registrations, an increase of 14.9% compared to 6,700 units the previous week and 28.33% higher than 6,000 units during the same period last year. The December cumulative figure is 20,400 units.
Deepal recorded 7,600 registrations, a slight decline of 1.3% from 7,700 units the previous week but a 100.00% increase from 3,800 units during the same period last year.
Volkswagen-backed Xpeng registered 7,400 vehicles, up 2.8% from 7,200 units the week before and 89.74% growth from 3,900 units in the same week the previous year. The total December registrations stand at 21,600 units.
Xiaomi registered 6,000 vehicles, a 3.4% increase from the previous week’s 5,800 units. Year-over-year data is not available. The total for December stands at 17,200 units.
Nio recorded 5,400 registrations, up 22.7% from the previous week’s 4,400 units and 31.71% higher than the 4,100 units recorded in the same week last year. The cumulative registrations through December (between Dec 2 and 22) is 13,500 units.
Nio’s Onvo registered 2,090 units of its L60 SUV, up 22.4% from 1,715 units the previous week. Year-over-year data is not available. The total for December is 5,205 units so far. Onvo claims they will sell 10,000 vehicles in December. Insurance registration numbers are usually a bit lower than sales numbers self-reported by the automakers.
Nio Inc. registered 7,490 units together in weeks 51 and 18,705 through December. The company previously provided guidance showing a target to sell at least 30,400 cars in December.
Zeekr registered 5,300 units, a 1.9% increase from the previous week’s 5,200 units and an 89.29% increase from the 2,800 units registered in the same period last year. The December cumulative total is 15,900 units.
Huawei’s Luxeed registered 3,600 units, up 5.9% from the previous week’s 3,400 units. Year-over-year data is not available. The cumulative total for December is 10,300 units.
BYD’s Denza registered 2,800 vehicles, a 12.5% decline from the previous week’s 3,200 units but a 21.74% increase from the 2,300 units registered last year.
