Total Number of Electric Buses Sales in China for 2017

The Chinese market for pure electric buses had approximately 89,546 sales last year. This is down from 115,700 sales in 2016. This means that year on year, the market sales decreased by 23%. Reports indicate that this decrease is down to multiple factors, but mainly due to changes to electric bus subsidies from Chinese national and local governments.

Electric Bus Subsidies

The production and sales of electric vehicles have been deeply impacted by government policy and the structure of subsidies, meaning that most sales are concentrated around the end of the year.

In 2017, in particular, it was learned that the 2018 subsidies would be significantly reduced, which created a large year-end surge in demand.

The Chinese electric bus market is still dominated by two big companies, Yutong and BYD. BYD is the leading electric bus manufacturer, while Yutong is the largest overall bus manufacturer in the country.

Electric Bus Sale Numbers 2017

Annual and monthly electric bus sales numbers for China are below:

Month	China Electric Bus Sales
December	36,191
November	18,113
October	6,568
September	8,169
August	5,772
July	5,470
June	6,540
May	1,623
April	452
March	617
February	0
January	31
Total	89,546

Year	China Electric Bus Sales
2011	1136
2012	1904
2013	1672
2014	12,760
2015	94,260
2016	115,700
2017	89,546
TOTAL	316,978

The Future of the Market

In 2018, the Chinese electric bus market is in for some big changes as policy from national and local/city governments start to collide. In a following article, I will outline some Chinese local governments policies and goals to provide greater details on the up and coming market developments.

Hydrogen fueled electric buses will also be a increasing trend, as the Chinese governments has started to provide increasing support and subsidies towards that industry.

Final Word

We should see more details and analysis of these numbers as the year moves on. For a detailed look at the 2016 numbers, please read this article on CleanTechnica. These sales are just the data behind the world-changing events happening around China, such as Shenzhen’s bus fleet going 100% electric in 2017. Keep an eye on CleanTechnica and CHINA X Cleantech for more.