BYD sees NEV share reaching 50% in the next 3 months in China as EV price war heats up
After new energy vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) crossed 48.2% last week in China, BYD’s CEO Wang Chuanfu said at this rate, 50% NEV share could happen in the next three months.
BYD chairman predicts 50% NEV share in China sooner
“The penetration rate of NEVs crossed 48.2 percent last week, and if it continues at this rate, I estimate that the penetration could cross 50 percent in the next three months,” Wang explained at the China EV 100 Forum in Beijing over the weekend.
Just a month ago, BYD’s CEO said he could see China’s NEV reaching 50% by the end of the year, according to CnEVPost.
The penetration rate could be even higher over the next three months as NEVs dominate the market, according to Wang.
About half of BYD’s sales are all-electric, while the other half are PHEVs. Wang said China’s NEV makers must embrace the industry’s shift while advancing cleaner tech.
Last year, NEVs accounted for 35% of China’s auto sales. A jump to 45% would mean an extra two million NEV sales, according to Wang.
After dominating their domestic market, Chinese NEVs are now expanding overseas. Electric vehicles pushed China past Japan to become the global auto export leader. BYD’s first car transport ship docked in Germany last month, carrying 3,000 vehicles, as it’s “just getting started” in Europe.
Meanwhile, Wang warned the industry is entering a tough stretch, and automakers need to scale and grow their brand as quickly as possible.
After launching the Qin Plus Champion Edition (DM-i model) last year, priced below 100,000 yuan ($13,900) for the first time, BYD claimed it was “directly destroying the moat of joint venture vehicles.”
Now, the automaker has several fully electric models below or close to the 100,000 yuan mark.
Electrek’s Take
A 50% NEV share within the next three months would be impressive. China’s NEV market already topped 48% share last week as buyers continue transitioning to cleaner alternatives.
BYD announced a “liberation battle” against gas-powered vehicles last month after cutting EV prices and introducing new low-cost models.
Its cheapest EV so far, the new Seagull, starts at $9,700 (69,800 yuan). The Seagull earned the nickname “Lamborghini mini,” as former Lamborghini designer Wolfgang Egger led its design.
Although BYD is known as a low-cost EV maker, it’s expanding into new segments, including luxury and mid-size SUVs. BYD launched its Yangwang U9 electric supercar last month, starting at $233,000 (1,680,000 yuan).
It also has two new mid-size electric SUVs, the Sea Lion 07 and Song L, rolling out to compete with Tesla’s best-selling Model Y.
Although BYD and Tesla are often compared, BYD sees Tesla as an important partner and wants to work with them to continue gaining market share from ICE cars.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.
December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.
Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.
EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.
(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)
Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.
However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.
What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla is now claiming that Cybertruck was the ‘best-selling electric pickup in US’ last year despite not even reporting the number of deliveries.
There’s a lot of context needed here.
As we often highlighted, Tesla is sadly one of, if not the most, opaque automakers regarding sales reports.
Tesla doesn’t break down sales per model or even region.
For comparison, here’s Ford’s Q4 2024 sales report compared to Tesla’s:
You could argue that Tesla has fewer models than Ford, and that’s true, but Tesla’s report literally has two lines despite having six different models.
There’s no reason not to offer a complete breakdown like all other automakers other than trying to make it hard to verify the health of each vehicle program.
This has been the case with the Cybertruck. Tesla is bundling its Cybertruck deliveries with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi deliveries.
Despite this lack of disclosure, Tesla has been able to claim that the Cybertruck has become “the best-selling electric pickup truck” in the US in 2024:
It very well might be true. Ford disclosed 33,510 F-150 Lightning truck deliveries in the US in 2024 while most estimates are putting Cybertruck deliveries at around 40,000 units.
Those are global deliveries, but Tesla only delivered the Cybertruck in the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2024, and most of the deliveries are believed to be in the US.
However, there’s essential context needed here, as we highlighted in our recent ‘Tesla Cybertruck sales are disastrous‘ article.
First off, Tesla had a backlog of over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck that it has been building since 2019. This led many to believe Tesla already had years of demand baked in for the truck and that production would be the constraint.
However, based on estimates, again, because Tesla refuses to disclose the data, Cybertruck deliveries were either flat or down in Q4 versus Q3 despite Tesla introducing cheaper versions of the vehicle and ramping up production.
Again, that’s after just about 40,000 deliveries.
Furthermore, with almost 11,000 deliveries in Q4 in the US, Ford more likely than not outsold Cybertruck with the F-150 Lightning in Q4.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is in damage control here. There’s no doubt that it is having issues selling the Cybertruck.
Inventory is full of Cybertrucks and Tesla is now discounting them and offering free lifetime Supercharging.
Tesla is great at ramping up production, and it’s clear the Cybertruck is not production-constrained anymore. It is demand-constrained despite having over 1 million reservations.
Again, those reservations were made before Tesla unveiled the production version, which happened to have less range and cost significantly more.
The upcoming cheaper single motor version should help with demand, but I have serious doubts Tesla can ramp this program up to more than 100,000 units in the US.
As a reminder, Tesla installed a production capacity of 250,000 units annually and Musk said he could see Tesla selling 500,000 Cybertrucks per year.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway