BYD dominates China’s PHEV market during November
23 January 2025
Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) registrations continue to improve rapidly in China, thanks to domestic carmaker BYD. Yet, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) still lead the marketplace. Autovista24 special content editor Phil Curry examines the latest data from EV Volumes.
China’s PHEV market continued to experience strong growth in November 2024, as newer models began to gain traction in the country. However, the BEV sector continued to have the upper hand in terms of volume.
A total of 532,492 PHEVs were registered in the country during the month, according to data from EV Volumes. This was an 81.7% improvement on November 2023. This was the second-best month on record for the plug-in technology in China, following October’s result.
BEVs, meanwhile, saw registrations increase 31.9% in November, with 768,406 units taking to Chinese roads. This was a record month for the technology, which continues to be popular amongst buyers.
Across the first 11 months of the year, PHEVs have achieved phenomenal growth. The powertrain saw an increase of 80.5% against the same period in 2023, as 4.23 million units have taken to China’s roads.
Meanwhile, BEVs lead the way in the electric vehicle market. A total of 5.66 million models were registered between January and November, an improvement of 18.8%.
Seagull continues to fly in China
The BYD Seagull continued to top China’s monthly best-selling BEV chart in November. The model secured a record 56,156 registrations, a 25.9% rise compared to the same period in 2023. This meant the Seagull gained a 7.3% market share. While registrations improved, its hold of the overall BEV market declined by 0.4 percentage points (pp), due to results elsewhere.
Taking second place was the Tesla Model Y, with 44,576 units delivered to customers in China. This was a 10.6% drop year on year, and gave the crossover a 5.8% market share, down 2.8pp. Tesla has recently launched a refreshed version of the Model Y in the Chinese market It will be hoping that the update proves popular with customers.
Despite its decline, the Model Y was still able to place ahead of the Wuling Mini, which secured third place in November. This meant the top three in the month matched results from October. The Mini took 34,777 registrations, a 51.3% rise compared to the same point a year previously. Its total meant it took 4.5% of the overall BEV market, up from 3.9% in November 2023.
Having been absent from the top 10 in October, the Tesla Model 3 bounced back in November, with 28,914 registrations securing fourth position. This was an 89.4% increase for the sedan, with a 3.8% market share. Tesla will be hoping its refreshed version will continue to gain traction.
Close run
Fifth place in November’s BEV chart went to the Wuling Bingo. The 26,808-unit tally was its best-ever result in the month, as the model improved 11.6% year-on-year. However, its 3.5% market share was down by 0.6pp compared to the same point in 2023.
Close behind was the BYD Yuan Plus. The 26,400-delivery total was only 408 units from fifth place. The model improved by 2.5% year on year, but was another to suffer a market share drop as the BEV sector becomes ever more crowded. The Yuan Plus secured 3.4% of overall registrations, down by 1pp.
In seventh position was the Xaiomi SU7, with 23,156 registrations and a 3% share of deliveries in only its eighth month on the market. Behind was the BYD Yuan UP, with 21,391 deliveries in its ninth month of availability, and a 2.8% hold.
However, the best performer in the top 10 was the Geely Genome Xingyuan. In just its third month on the market, it secured 20,038 registrations to end November in ninth position. It secured a 2.6% market share.
The model beat its stablemate, the Geely Panda Mini, which rounded out the chart in 10th, thanks to 19,027 deliveries. This was up 25.3% year on year, with a 0.1pp drop in market share, to 2.5%.
Tesla in fight for first
Between January and November, the Tesla Model Y led China’s BEV market. However, the gap between it and the second-placed BYD Seagull narrowed. The crossover ended the month with 418,428 units and a 7.4% share of the market.
This was just 9,433 units ahead of the Seagull, which closed in with an extra 11,580 units in November alone. In the first 11 months of 2024, the model secured 408,995 deliveries, a 7.2% hold of overall registrations.
In third, and some way back, was the BYD Yuan Plus with 252,175 units across the 11-month period, a 4.5% market share. The Wuling Mini followed with 223,394 registrations, taking 3.9% of the BEV total between January and November. Wuling also secured fifth place with its Bingo model, which totalled 179,617 units and 3.2% of the market.
Changing places
The lower half of the top 10 saw some movement, with the Tesla Model 3 jumping up two positions to sixth. The sedan’s strong result in November meant it ended the period with a cumulative total of 155,747 units, representing 2.7% of the market.
Also on the rise was the BYD Dolphin, with 146,155 units, and a 2.6% market share. Both models moved up at the expense of the Aion Y, which did not record a top 10 result in November. This meant that in the first 11 months of 2024, it secured 145,994 registrations, taking 2.6% of the BEV total.
The BYD Qin Plus remained in ninth position, growing its total to 134,802 registrations and a 2.4% market share. Filling the final position in the 11-month period was the Changan Lumin, which entered the top 10 at the expense of the Aion S. It saw 132,115 registrations in first 11 months of the year, holding 2.3% of the market.
BYD dominates PHEV market
In the PHEV market, BYD dominated, with seven out of the top 10 positions. Leading the way was the BYD Song, with 50,768 registrations in November, an increase of 4%. This gave the popular model a 9.5% share of the market. This was, however, a drop of 7.2pp, as competition in the country increased.
Second position went to the BYD Qin L, with 33,948 registrations. The model took 6.4% of the total in its seventh month on the market. In third place was the BYD Seal 06, just 690 units behind. In its seventh month since launch, it secured 29,465 registrations, equating to a 5.5% hold of the market.
Taking fourth place was the BYD Qin Plus, with 27,121 units. This was the first model in the top 10 that has been available for more than a year, with November’s result declining by 6.3%. As other BYD models cannibalise each other in the PHEV market, the Qin Plus saw its share drop by 4.8pp, to 5.1%.
Results tighten
The first non-BYD model in the top 10 was the Li Auto L6 in fifth place. In its eight month on the market, it secured 24,318 registrations and a 4.6% share.
The L6 was just 173 units ahead of the sixth-placed BYD Song L. The model secured another impressive result for the brand in its fourth month on the market. Its 24,145-unit tally made up 4.5% of total registrations.
Another close result occurred for the seventh and eighth positions. The BYD Han took the higher position, with 20,121 deliveries. This was a jump of 85.3% compared to November 2023, with its 3.8% market share up 0.1pp.
Just 902 units behind in eighth was the BYD Destroyer 05, with a total of 19,219 registrations. This was a jump of 252.6% year on year, with a 1.7pp rise in market share, to 3.6%.
The Aito M9 secured ninth place with 14,833 units. This was a 2.8% share of the PHEV market in the month. Rounding out the table was the Deepal S7, with 14,265 deliveries, just 618 units behind ninth. The model improved 107.6% year on year, as its market share climbed 0.4pp, to 2.7%.
BYD on Song
In the first 11 months of 2024, the BYD Song continued to lead the way. The model held a 12.2% share of the total PHEV market, as 518,426 units took to Chinese roads.
The Song was some way ahead of the BYD Qin Plus, which ended the period in second with 300,302 units, a 7.1% market share. Rounding out the top three was the BYD Destroyer, with 208,390 deliveries. This represented 4.9% of the Chinese PHEV market.
In fourth, the BYD Qin L jumped up one position, with 199,525 units and a 4.7% market share. This came at the expense of the Aito M7, which did not place in November’s top 10. It dropped to fifth position in the annual chart, with 179,925 units, a 4.3% hold.
The BYD Seal 06 also jumped up one place to sixth. It secured a 3.9% market share with 166,920 units. This was thanks to its November performance, as it pushed the Li Auto L6 down into seventh. The model saw 164,488 registrations between January and November, also taking 3.9% of the market total.
Eighth place went to the BYD Han with 134,340 units delivered in the 11-month period, representing 3.2% of the market. It was followed by the Aito M9 with 125,831 registrations and a 3% share.
Completing the top 10 in the cumulative chart for 2024 was the Li Auto L7. The model did not feature in the November chart, but kept its place with 120,851 deliveries in the first 11 months of 2024. This equated to a 2.9% market share.
