In February, the plug-in electric car sales in China experienced a predictable decline due to the 2024 Chinese New Year holiday falling between February 10th and 17th, unlike the previous year when the holidays were in January. According to data from EV Volumes, approximately 440,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in February, marking a 9% decrease from the previous year. Despite this decline, the market still holds a strong demand for electric vehicles, with plug-in cars accounting for 33% of the market share.
During February, all-electric car registrations saw a 20% year-over-year decrease, constituting about 22% of the total volume, while plug-in hybrid car registrations increased by 22%. This surge in PHEV registrations points to a significant demand for plug-in hybrid vehicles in China at present.
In the first two months of the year, over 1.1 million new plug-in electric cars were registered in China, representing a 41% increase from the previous year. This accounts for approximately one-third of the market share during this period.
Top three plug-in car nameplates in China for February were the BYD Qin family, the Tesla Model Y, and the BYD Song family. The BYD Qin family led with 27,851 units, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 22,537 units and the BYD Song family with 22,079 units predominantly comprised of PHEVs.
BYD continued to dominate the Chinese plug-in market, holding a 28.3% share in the plug-in car segment. The BYD Song family, BYD Qin family, and Tesla Model Y emerged as the top-selling plug-in vehicles in the January-February period.
Looking ahead, with a strong start to the year, it is predicted that 2024 will see even better results, potentially surpassing 10 million units in sales.