The Chinese market had more than 16,000 new EVs zooming the streets last month, a 55% increase over the same month last year, so it looks like the January standstill is a thing of the past and we are back at business as usual in China’s EV market.
With year-to-date sales still 3,000 units behind last year’s result, this market needs to make up for the lost time and resume the 30% growth path won last year.
All this while 95% of the market still belongs to domestic brands. For the record, of the 5% left for foreign brands, 4% belongs to Tesla and 1% is for the remaining automakers.
Interestingly, despite the EV market becoming alive last month, China’s sales champion, BYD, had another disappointing performance, to the benefit of an ever stronger BAIC.
Here are the February top 5 best-selling models’ individual performances:
#1 – BAIC EC180: The little hatchback saw 2,800 registrations in February, confirming itself as a strong contender for the “2017 Best Seller” status and winning for the first time the “Monthly Best Seller” trophy (in only its third month on the market). Beijing Auto must be happy with its electric baby, the first of a slew of new models coming from a dedicated EV platform. Yes, BAIC is not kidding around anymore.
#2 – Zhidou D2 EV: The tiny “car” continues its success story in the EV market into 2017, with 2,206 registrations in February. It looks like small EVs won’t actually go away anytime soon…
#3 – Zotye Cloud EV: A top 10 player last year, Zotye’s small EV logged 1,525 sales in February, and is now looking to recover lost sales in order to beat last year’s numbers, when this tiny five-seater saw 16,417 deliveries.
#4 – Zotye E200: This electric model is essentially an electric China-made Smart beater, and for 70,000 Yuan ($10,100), you get quite a lot: 80 hp engine, 120 km/hour top speed, 24.5 kWh battery, 220 km range …Not bad, eh? Anyhow, the Zotye E200 got 1,142 registrations last month, making it one of the strongest candidates for the “Best Selling City Car” trophy.
#5 – SAIC Roewe e550: The plug-in hybrid electric sedan reached the top 5 ranking once again in February. After securing the best-seller status in a strange January, the e550 was 5th in February, with 1,122 registrations, a 172% increase YoY and promising to be a tougher cookie to beat this year than in the past.
Year-to-Date Ranking – BAIC EC180 New #1
In the top positions, BAIC EC180 jumped to the leadership, while the Zhidou D2 EV came out of nowhere (literally nowhere, 0 registrations) to 2nd place, dropping last month’s winner, SAIC’s E550, to 3rd.
Other models climbing in the ranking were two Zotyes — the #5 Cloud EV and #6 E200 — with the best-selling BYD, the Tang SUV, climbing one position to 7th.
Worthy mentions go to the SAIC Roewe eRX5, #11 with 739 units, and another local-made crossover, the BAIC EX200, now #13. A new trend for 2017?
Looking at the manufacturer ranking, BAIC is the surprise leader, with 24% market share, followed by Zotye (17%) and SAIC Roewe (15%).
| China | February | YTD | |
| 1 | BAIC EC180 | 2,800 | 3,524 |
| 2 | Zhidou D2 EV | 2,206 | 2,206 |
| 3 | SAIC Roewe e550 | 1,122 | 2,078 |
| 4 | JMC E100 | 1,080 | 1,781 |
| 5 | Zotye Cloud EV | 1,525 | 1,525 |
| 6 | Zotye E200 | 1,142 | 1,328 |
| 7 | BYD Tang | 1,019 | 1,297 |
| 8 | JMC E200 | 722 | 1,146 |
| 9 | Zotye TT EV | 979 | 979 |
| 10 | BAIC EU260 / D50 EV | 101 | 913 |
| 11 | SAIC Roewe eRX5 | 608 | 739 |
| 12 | Tesla Model X | 50 | 674 |
| 13 | BAIC EX200 | 600 | 647 |
| 14 | SAIC Roewe e950 | 244 | 594 |
| 15 | Lifan 330 EV | 125 | 466 |
| 16 | Changan Benni EV | 213 | 415 |
| 17 | BYD e5 | 410 | 410 |
| 18 | Chery eQ | 219 | 401 |
| 19 | BYD Qin | 175 | 383 |
| 20 | BYD Qin EV300 | 368 | 368 |
| Others | 1,167 | 1,705 | |
| TOTAL | 16,875 | 23,579 |
Also published on our EV sales page, CleanTechnica, and the EV Sales blogspot.