Chinese EV makers on course to smashing 8.5 million 2023 sales target for mainland, industry players and observers say

China’s 200 EV makers will need to sell another 4 million cars in the September-to-December period to meet the CPCA target of 8.5 million EVs sold
The target ‘can be achieved amid a new wave of promotional campaigns across the country’, Shanghai analyst says

Electric & new energy vehicles

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 8:30pm, 8 Oct 2023

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China’s electric vehicle (EV) market, which already accounts for 60 per cent of the global total, is expected to maintain strong growth momentum in the fourth quarter of 2023, thanks to new launches and discounts offered by carmakers, industry players and observers said.

A sales boom between October and December – with powerful players such as BYD and Li Auto likely to rewrite their monthly delivery records several times over – would be enough for the country’s EV industry to achieve a lofty full-year growth target of 8.5 million EVs sold, which was set after a slow start in the first quarter by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), a national-level industry body.

“Some carmakers, hoping to turn their sales around, are adjusting their pricing and sales strategies,” said Cui Dongshu, CPCA’s general secretary. “The [government’s] efforts to promote EV use in rural areas will also stimulate purchases of electric cars, as more car shows and sales events are held there.”

China’s EV makers, including manufacturers of petrol-guzzlers that are struggling to migrate to EVs, delivered 4.44 million such vehicles to mainland Chinese customers from January to August, a 36 per cent year-on-year increase, CPCA data shows.

This means the country’s 200 EV makers will need to sell another 4 million cars in the world’s largest EV market in the September-to-December period to meet the CPCA target.

CPCA has not yet published sales data for September, but BYD and Li Auto said last week that their deliveries had hit an all-time high.

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BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, reported sales of 287,454 units in September, up 4.8 per cent from August, rewriting its own sales record for a fifth consecutive month. Beijing-based premium EV builder Li Auto delivered 36,060 vehicles the same month, a 3.3 per cent increase from August. The company also broke its monthly sales record for a sixth straight time.

In April, UBS analyst Paul Gong forecast that deliveries of pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars for passenger use in China were expected to jump by 55 per cent to 8.8 million units this year.

And while 716,000 EVs were handed over to customers in August, up 34.5 per cent year on year, according to the CPCA, analysts said monthly sales could jump to 1 million units between September and December, as more consumers were keen on owning an EV.

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“Chinese motorists’ strong interest in owning an EV will drive up the top players’ sales towards the end of the year,” said Zhao Zhen, a sales director with Shanghai-based dealer Wan Zhuo Auto. “Their monthly deliveries will continue to grow in the coming months.”

Currently, one out of every three vehicles sold in China is powered by battery.

BYD is currently offering a discount of 8,000 yuan (US$1,112) on some of its EVs under the Qin and Han brands, which sport price tags of about 200,000 yuan.

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In August, Geely Automobile Holdings, China’s largest privately owned carmaker, said it was betting on a strategy of price cuts to bolster sales in a fast-growing market. Geely expected to deliver 140,000 units of its Zeekr premium brand this year, almost doubling last year’s total of 71,941.

The price of the entry-level Zeekr 001 has been lowered by 10 per cent, or 31,000 yuan, to lure customers away from Tesla’s Model 3 and Xpeng’s P5.

On Saturday, Guangzhou-based Xpeng said its G9, an upgraded full-electric sport-utility vehicle, had received more than 15,000 orders since sales started 15 days ago.

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In May, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the National Administration of Energy jointly called for charging infrastructure to be rolled out with more urgency in remote regions, a move that is expected to bolster use of EVs in underdeveloped areas.

“Low-priced EVs designed for users in rural areas will see easy sales if a substantial discount is offered,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai.

“The full-year target of 8.5 million units can be achieved amid a new wave of promotional campaigns across the country.”