The record months at the end of the year had already foreshadowed it: China also achieved a new record for new energy vehicle sales in 2024 as a whole, with 12,866 million new NEVs hitting the roads. This means that over 40 per cent of new registrations were electric – at least in part.
The 12.866 million new energy vehicles represent growth of 35.5 per cent compared to 2023 – when 9.5 million NEVs were sold in China. It was already clear from the November result that there would be more than ten million units this year: although there was another new monthly record in December 2024 with 1.596 million NEVs, at the end of November there were 11.27 million units. These are the wholesale figures, which also include exported vehicles. In December, however, 1.463 million of the 1.596 million units remained in China and 134,000 NEVs were exported (+19.8 per cent).
Across all drive types, 31.44 million vehicles were sold in China – i.e. the NEV share was 40.9 per cent. As the New Energy Vehicles category also includes plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles in addition to battery electric vehicles, 40.9 per cent of new registrations in China are not permanently all-electric. In December, the NEV rate was 45.7 per cent, roughly the same as in November (45.6 per cent. At the beginning of the year, it was only around 30 per cent in January and February, but since then it has risen noticeably. In December 2023, the share of NEVs was still at a record level of 37.7 per cent at that time; in 2023 as a whole, it was 31.6 per cent. The share has therefore risen noticeably in 2024, with monthly NEV rates higher than in the best month of 2023 for seven months alone.
Battery-electric cars accounted for the majority of NEV sales in December: 973,000 units not only represent the third record figure in a row, but also an increase of 17.9 per cent over the year and a 7.2 per cent increase on the previous record from November. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) counted 622,000 units of plug-in hybrids. This is three per cent more than in November, but 70.9 per cent more than in December 2023 – a good illustration of the strong demand for part-time electric vehicles this year. Although BEVs are still the stronger drive type, the momentum is higher for PHEVs.
Fuel cell vehicles only play a subordinate role in China too: if you subtract the figures for BEVs and PHEVs from the 1.596 million new energy vehicles in December, around 1,000 sales remain. In absolute figures, this sounds like a significant level, but in fact it is only 0.06 per cent of all new energy vehicles in December or 0.028 per cent of all vehicle sales (3,489,000 vehicles).
The largest NEV manufacturer in China is BYD: in December, the car and battery manufacturer sold 514,809 new energy vehicles, making it the seventh record month in a row and the third with more than 500,000 units. A year ago, BYD was ‘only’ able to sell 341,043 vehicles. In this article, we have analysed how the dynamic has shifted between BEVs and PHEVs at BYD. Just this much: in 2024, BYD achieved total sales of 4.25 million NEVs (i.e. almost a third of the NEV market), of which 1.76 million were BEVs.
Tesla sold 82,927 electric cars in China in December, which was the best month of the year. A total of 93,766 Teslas built in Giga Shanghai were sold, of which 10,893 units were exported. For the year, Tesla stands at 657,102 electric cars in China, an increase of 8.8 per cent on 2023. Globally, Tesla sold 1,789,266 cars as reported – 36.7 per cent of sales were in China. The CN EV Post has filtered another interesting piece of information from the data of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA): 480,309 of the Teslas sold in China were Model Ys – or 26.8 per cent of Tesla’s global sales.
Behind Tesla, Stellantis partner Leapmotor has established itself – with enormous momentum since the middle of the year. December was the seventh consecutive sales record, with 42,517 deliveries representing an increase of 128.4 per cent on the 18,618 units in December 2023. Leapmotor more than doubled its annual sales to 293,724 vehicles. The target of 250,000 new energy vehicles was therefore clearly exceeded. For 2025, Leapmotor is virtually expecting a further doubling and is aiming for 500,000 units. For comparison: Leapmotor has sold a total of 599,000 vehicles since the first model in 2020.
The ongoing duel between Nio and Xpeng has continued the trend of recent months. With the Mona M03 and more affordable P7+, Xpeng was able to increase its sales over the course of the year, reaching 36,695 units (+82 per cent) in December. Over the year as a whole, Xpeng gained 34 per cent and sold 190,068 BEVs. The situation is similar for Nio: Here, the cheaper Onvo brand is helping sales, with 31,138 units sold in December, an increase of 72.9 per cent. As Xpeng was particularly weak in the first few months of the year and only made strong gains with the aforementioned model premieres, Nio is ahead for the year as a whole with 221,970 electric cars.
However, the Geely brand Zeekr remains close behind: 27,190 sales in December represent a doubling compared to the same month last year and, with the slight growth of 0.66 per cent compared to November 2024, even a new record month. Zeekr delivered 222,123 vehicles for the year as a whole, putting it even ahead of Nio, although it narrowly missed its annual target of 230,000 vehicles. Zeekr is aiming for 320,000 deliveries in 2025.
Sales of the Dongfeng brand Voyah also developed positively at the end of the year, with December being the strongest month of the year with 12,136 vehicles – the third record month in a row. However, it was not good enough to achieve its own targets: With annual sales of 85,697 New Energy Vehicles, the targeted mark of 100,000 vehicles was clearly missed.
The Chery Group sold 583,569 new energy vehicles in 2024, an impressive 232.7 per cent more than in the previous year. Here, too, there was enormous momentum, especially towards the end of the year: in December, sales were in the six-digit range for the first time with 102,621 NEVs. Chery includes brands such as Luxeed (57,956 vehicles in 2024), iCAR (65,964 vehicles) and Exeed (140,959 vehicles).
By the way: SAIC-Volkswagen has also published figures for the year as a whole. The joint venture sold more than 130,000 all-electric ID. models in China in 2024, making it the best-selling electric car among the EV joint ventures in China. This is an increase of 23.8 per cent compared to 2023 (105,223 BEVs). SAIC-VW sells the ID.3 Smart Edition, the ID.4 X Smart Edition and the ID.6 X in China. Figures from FAW-Volkswagen (ID.4 Crozz and ID.6 Crozz) are not yet known.
cnevpost.com (CAAM), cnevpost.com (BYD), cnevpost.com (Tesla), cnevpost.com (Leapmotor), xiaopeng.com (Xpeng), nio.com (Nio), cnevpost.com (Zeekr), cnevpost.com (Voyah), gasgoo.com (Chery), carnewschina.com (SAIC-VW)
