Oh my!
Up, up and away!
#GoldenSeptember ends with a bang, #SilverOctober and China’s weeklong National Day holiday break starts with fresh September sales records nearly across the board in the #ChinaNEV realm.
This follows a week’s worth of fresh fiscal & monetary stimulus measures to inject vigor into the economy and launches/pre-sales of nearly two dozen new models.
Here’s a quick recap of companies and brands that announced September NEV sales on October 1 (those with * denote new records):
BYD*: Topping 400,000 units for the first time ever with the Dynasty/Ocean network contributing 400,000+ units alone and PHEV:BEV split roughly at 60:40. Think BYD, think DM-i. Annual NEV sales on track to top 4 million units: the question is not if, but how much over 4 million units, and in the process surpass SAIC Motor to become China’s biggest automaker in sales.
It's hard to imagine that just a few years ago BYD was stuck on annual sales of half a million units (mostly ICE vehicles), and now they could be looking at doing half a million units a month, and exclusively NEVs!
Dynasty/Ocean: 401,572
Denza: 10,299
Fang Cheng Bao: 5,422
Yang Wang: 310
Tesla: Total shipments out of Giga Shanghai should hit six digits due to end of quarter push and domestic sales (mostly Model Y) remaining strong thanks to that 0% interest financing incentive. But the number of Model 3/Y “killers” just got a whole lot more.
Geely Auto*: All three brands clicking with new models such as the Galaxy E5, LYNK & CO Z10 and ZEEKR 7X that will drive sales in Q4.
Geely (Galaxy)*: 29,047
ZEEKR*: 21,333
LYNK & CO: 17,392
SGMW: Think Wuling & Baojun, think small and compact NEV segments where they command big market share. Lucky for GM to have this joint venture in China.
Chery*: Record monthly highs in NEV sales (50,000+), total vehicle sales (240,000+) and export (100,000+) in the 27-year history of the company. Annual sales will likely hit 2.5 million units with nearly half exported and a fifth NEVs.
Li Auto*: New monthly and quarterly sales records despite not having any new models and capturing over 17% of the RMB200,000 & above NEV segment. Cumulative sales to top 1 million units within a matter of days less than 5 years after deliveries began in December 2019. Relentless update to smart cockpit/driving capabilities via the VLM+E2E rollout and operating one of the largest supercharging networks have been secrets behind the strength.
HIMA: Losing the battle with Li Auto but winning with the Stelato S9 (top selling electric sedan in the RMB400,000 & above category) and M9 (top selling model in the RMB500,00 & above category). LUXEED R7 a boost with over 11,000 in firm orders.
AITO: 35,560
LUXEED: 2,202
STELATO: 2,169
GAC AION: Losing star power with sales stagnating a bit and down big YoY, can 2nd-gen AION V and new AION RT provide a boost?
LeapMotor*: Bang for the buck with its C series EREV SUVs and gaining momentum overseas with the Stellantis leverage.
GWM: Still facing headwind with sales at key brands total sales down YoY.
Deepal* & Qiyuan*: My vote for darkhorses of the year.
Xpeng*: MONA M03 singled handedly rejuvenating Xpeng. International expansion gaining momentum.
NIO*: Five consecutive months of 20,000+ deliveries for the NIO brand alone, with ONVO ramping rapidly: expect four-digit sales at least the remaining three months and getting to 10,000 in December. Shot in the arm with recent Hefei investment.
NIO: 20,349
ONVO: 832
Xiaomi*: 20,000 for October, 100,000 by the end of November, and 120,000 for the year a foregone conclusion.
SAIC VW ID.*: Re-priced and new trims of the ID.3/4 carrying the weight. Cumulative ID. sales top 300,000 units.
ARCFOX*: New Alpha S5/T5 definitely under appreciated.
BAIC BJEV (which includes ARCFOX): 15,781
NETA: Going in the wrong direction.
Dongfeng eπ* & NAMMI*: almost forgot they existed, but silently moving up the charts with the 008 and 001.
VOYAH*: topping 10K now with four models!
AVATR: Gets some much needed help with a proper SUV and Model Y killer and moving into EREVs with the 07.
IM: New LS6, another Model Y killer, getting 11,000 firm orders within 48 hours should provide major boost in deliveries.
JIYUE*: Looking on up with recent marketing blitz/stunts after some early jitters.
Fair to say 20,000/month is the new delivery benchmark with Xiaomi soon joining in October.
All of these companies and brands listed combined sold more than 1.1 million NEVs in September as it stands.
While the rest of the world grapples with a slowdown, China is running away with NEV sales.
No looking back.
Hang tight folks, it’s going to be a wild ride until the end of the year and into 2025!
