The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAC) expects total sales this year will be up by 3% from 2021, as carmakers sold 2.51 million vehicles last month. This was 4% less than in September but up 6.9% year-on-year, said the CAAM. Both September and October are usually peak months for car sales in China. The October sales numbers brought total deliveries in the first 10 months of this year to 21.98 million, up 4.6% from the same period of 2021. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than that of the first three quarters. Of the October sales, passenger vehicles totaled 2.23 million, up 10.7% from the same month last year. Deliveries from January to October totaled 19.22 million, up 13.7% year-on-year. Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary General of the CAAM, said the passenger vehicle segment has seen a rapid rise since June, when the central authorities introduced a favorable purchase tax. Chen said the segment is expected to drive total sales in the country this year to exceed 27 million units.
China-made premium vehicles including those from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz saw their deliveries go up 12.5% year-on-year to 340,000 units in October. Total deliveries soared 10.6% year-on-year in the first 10 months to 3.08 million units. Sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids reached 714,000 units last month, up 81.7% year-on-year. They accounted for 28.5% of total vehicle deliveries in October. NEV sales from January to October reached 5.28 million units, up 110% year-on-year, and are expected to reach 6.5 million this year. BYD sold more than 200,000 vehicles in October, a new record. BYD has been the most popular carmaker in China for three months in a row. Its sales in the first 10 months totaled 1.39 million vehicles, up 233.92% year-on-year. Tesla’s Shanghai plant sold 71,704 vehicles in October, up 32% from a year earlier. It delivered 554,778 vehicles in the first 10 months of 2022, far exceeding the 484,130 units delivered during the whole of 2021.
Chinese electric car startup Nio sold 10,059 vehicles in October, up 174.3%, despite production at its plants in Anhui province being disrupted by Covid-19. It delivered 92,493 vehicles from January to October, up 32% year-on-year. William Li, Chairman and CEO of Nio, said the carmaker will launch five new models in the first half of 2023. “By June, we will have eight models on sale to meet the demands of different customer groups,” he said. But as the authorities are stopping subsidies for NEVs by the end of this year, many carmakers are starting to explore the potential of hybrids as well as plug-in hybrids, which are powered by engines and thus less dependent on charging facilities.
China’s vehicle exports hit a monthly record in October, with 337,000 units shipped overseas. Around one-third were NEVs, up 81.2% year-on-year. Exports in the first 10 months reached 2.46 million units, up 54.1% year-on-year, which was already higher than total vehicle exports for the whole of 2021. Exports of NEVs increased 96.7% year-on-year to 499,000 units from January to October. Tesla alone exported 219,427 vehicles during the January-October period, according to Tesla China. Statistics from the CAAM show that Belgium, the United Kingdom and Thailand were the top three destinations for China-made NEVs in the first three quarters of this year.
Last week, the electric sedan ET7 from Chinese startup Nio was selected as the best model in the “Medium and Upper Class” category in the Golden Steering Wheel competition in Germany. The ET7 received the award within one month of its arrival in Europe, a first for a Chinese carmaker. Established in 1976, the Golden Steering Wheel is one of the most prestigious and oldest awards in the automotive industry. Ralph Kranz, General Manager of Nio Germany, said the award as well as the positive feedback from potential customers confirm “we have a very convincing electric vehicle ready to compete with the best.” Before joining Nio, Kranz was a senior executive at Volvo. Fu Bingfeng, CAAM Executive Vice President, said China’s electric cars, which are doing a good job in terms of design, quality and novel features, are competitive in the global market and are driving China’s vehicle exports. BYD won a deal last month from Germany-based car rental company Sixt to offer 100,000 electric vehicles by 2028, the China Daily reports.
