China electric car sales estimates for 2014 are now in, providing some insight into the fast-growing market. (It should be noted here that some of these figures are estimates, as indicated by the “*” to the right of the name.)
Overall sales appear to have more than tripled as compared to the previous year, with total market share climbing to 0.25% — up from 0.08%. Respectable growth.
Aside from the Tesla estimate, these numbers come from the EV-Sales blogspot. And let me just reiterate: some of them are pure estimates (or you might say “guesses”).
As far as sales of specific models, a number of newcomers have worked their way towards good sales — including the new king of the hill, the BYD Qin.
As you can see, Tesla Motors managed to nab the number 6 spot, with the Model S — with total (estimated) sales being 3831 units. I suppose not exactly what Tesla was aiming for, but certainly not as bad as could be the case. It’s worth noting that Tesla is the only foreign car manufacturer to make the list at all.
While there’s a bit of controversy surrounding the Kandi EV figures (the company has in the past overstated EV sales figures, and been investigated by the SEC in the US), the numbers don’t look too out of place so perhaps they’re completely accurate.
| Model | 2014 | 2014 Market Share |
| BYD Qin | 14,747 | 25% |
| Kandi EV | 10,022 | 17% |
| Chery QQ3 EV* | 7,866 | 13% |
| Zotye E20 | 7,341 | 12% |
| BAIC E150/E200 EV | 5,234 | 9% |
| Tesla Model S* | 5,040 | 9% |
| BYD e6 | 3,560 | 6% |
| Geely-Kandi Panda EV | 1,285 | 2% |
| Roewe 550 PHEV* | 1,000 | 2% |
| JAC iev* | 950 | 2% |
| Venucia e30 / M Wind | 582 | 1% |
| Chery eQ | 542 | 1% |
| Zotye T200 EV* | 200 | 0% |
| Chery Riich M1 EV* | 197 | 0% |
| Roewe E50 | 168 | 0% |
| BYD Denza EV | 132 | 0% |
| TOTAL | 58866 |
Jose Pontes, the main behind the EV-Sales blog, provides some further thoughts:
While in the Third Spot we have the Two Times Sales Champion (2012 & 2013) Chery QQ3 EV, which has ended its brilliant career this year, all-in-all, some 19,000 units were made, making it the most common plug-in vehicle in this market. Next is their nemesis, the #4 Zotye E20 is looking to win city-car loving consumers over Chery.
The BAIC E150 / E200 EV is one of the few cars to repeat a Top 5 presence in China, repeating its #5 position from 2013, this year it had a restyling, new name and also new ambitions, with sales going through the roof in the last months of the year (It was the Best-Seller in December, with 2,615 units!).
The veteran JAC iev is suffering with the new competition, selling half of what it had last year, diving at the same time from #5 to #10; the Venucia e30 / Morning Wind / chinese Nissan Leaf starts its first real sales year in #11; while the Chery eQ, successor to the multi-prized QQ3 EV, debuts in #12, but looking to climb several positions in 2015, after all, it has some big shoes to fill…
When the various models are grouped together by brand, BYD is clearly the top brand (with 31% of sales); Kandi is then second (19%); and Chery is third (15%).
Growth during 2015 is expected to continue at pace (or speed up). Sales of over 100,000 units for 2015 wouldn’t be too surprising. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Image by EV Obsession (CC BY-SA 4.0)