Has BYD and Telsa’s strong hold on China weakened?

20 March 2025

China’s battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) registrations improved in January. Yet automotive giants BYD and Tesla failed to dominate the market. Autovista24 special content editor Phil Curry examines the latest EV Volumes data.

China’s BEV and PHEV markets continued to grow in January 2024, according to figures provided by EV Volumes. While BEVs led in terms of volumes, the PHEV market once again achieved the highest growth.

Over the last few months, a concentrated effort to launch new PHEVs has seen the country’s market expand rapidly. Sales of the powertrain increased by 29.7% year on year. However, January’s 374,522 deliveries made for the lowest volume total since May 2024.

The BEV market saw volumes increase by 10.9% in January, with 423,500 units taking to the country’s roads. The gap between BEV and PHEV volumes, of 48,978, is the smallest since July 2024.

Both markets saw a shake-up in the best-selling models, with BYD and Tesla starting the year in market-leading positions. Will the brands face credible, sustained challenges across 2025, or will the competition fall back as traditional dominance emerges?

BYD loses PHEV top spot

For the first time since January 2024, BYD failed to take the top spot in the PHEV market. Instead, the win went to the Galaxy Starship 7, a model that only started hitting the roads in November 2024.

It seems that BYD, and in particular its Song Plus, has an external challenger on its hands. The Starship 7 saw 20,328 deliveries on its way to first place, accounting for 5.4% of the market. The Song Plus finished in second, with 19,000 registrations and a 5.1% market share.

However, Galaxy’s position at the top of the PHEV chart in January may owe more to the BYD model’s poor performance. Despite leading the chart in 2024, the Song Plus saw registrations drop 29.8% year on year. January’s performance was its worst volume total since February 2024.

Although it failed to lead the PHEV chart, BYD did dominate the market, with seven models in the top 10. Taking third was the Qin L, with 16,047 deliveries in January, representing 4.3% of the market. This was the model’s worst volume month since it launched in May 2024, excluding its first month of sales.

Fourth place went to the BYD Song Pro, with 15,698 units and a 4.2% market share. This was a drop of 21.3% year on year for the model. The BYD Qin Plus ended January in fifth, with 15,000 registrations, a decline of 9% compared to the same period 12 months ago. Its 4% share of the market was down 1.7pp year on year.

A continuing presence

Continuing the run of BYD models in the PHEV chart, the Seal 06 secured sixth in January. The model recorded 14,492 deliveries in its ninth month on the market. This equated to 3.9% of total PHEV registrations in China.

Seventh went to the Li Auto L6, with 13,990 units delivered to customers. The model, which came to the Chinese market in April last year, secured 3.7% of the total volume in the month.

The Aito M9 took eighth with a 3.1% market share and 11,483 registrations, a 498.4% rise year on year. The M9 came to the market in December 2023 and was still ramping up in January of last year.

In ninth was the BYD Song L. In its seventh month on the market, it recorded 11,000 deliveries and a 2.9% share. Also taking 11,000 sales was the BYD Han, which saw a 109.7% increase year on year.

Tesla and BYD BEVs struggle

The Chinese BEV market also saw a new leader, breaking the domination of Tesla and BYD for the first time since February 2023. January’s BEV table saw a shake-up, with both major carmakers only placing one model in the top 10, and both losing volume year on year.

The Geely Geome Xingyuan was the BEV market leader in January, with 28,146 registrations. This was the model’s best-ever volume, in only its fifth month on the market. The model secured 6.6% of China’s total BEV volume in the month.

Tesla secured second place with the Model Y. A total of 25,694 units were delivered to customers, a drop of 14.1% year on year. The model achieved a 6.1% market share, a drop of 1.7 percentage points (pp).

In third place was the Wuling Mini with 24,924 registrations. This was a jump of 60.6% year on year. With a 5.9% market share, the Mini saw a rise of 1.8pp in its hold on the market.

Taking fourth was the Xiaomi SU7, with 22,897 deliveries and a share of 5.4%. The model has been on the Chinese market since April 2024 and has proved popular. Since October 2024, registrations reached over 20,000 units every month.

The only BYD to make the top 10 was the Seagull, which ended January in fifth. It achieved a registration total of 18,171 units, a decline of 30.6% year on year. The model achieved a market share of 4.3%, down from the 6.9% achieved in January 2024.

New players emerge

Sixth went the way of the Geely Panda Mini, taking 15,932 registrations. This was a rise of 43.6% compared to January 2024. Its market share of 3.8% was up by 0.9pp.

Xpeng’s M03 model ended January just behind the Panda Mini in seventh, with a gap of 707 units to its rival. The BEV achieved 15,225 deliveries in its fifth month on the market, slightly below its best-ever result secured in December 2024.

In its seventh month on the market, the Galaxy E5, also known as the EX5, took eighth in January. The model secured a total of 12,880 units and a 3% market share. Ninth went to the Wuling Bingo, with 12,130 registrations, up 3.3% year on year. However, its market share of 2.9% was a 0.2pp decline compared to January 2024.

Finally, the Luxeed R7 rounded out the top 10 in its second month on the market. It achieved 11,422 registrations, a share of 2.7%.