At the same time as analyzing the BEV sales in Europe and, especially, Germany, the German Center of Automotive Management (CAM) was also paying attention to the largest car market in the world, China.

Where BEV sales in Europe between January and October 2023 amounted to 1,63 million passenger cars, an increase of 45% compared to the same period last year, China remains by far the largest market for e-cars. Just over 4 million BEVs (+19%) were sold there after ten months in 2023, which corresponds to a global market share of 23%.

PHEV and EREV

It is also interesting to note that plug-in hybrids are becoming increasingly important in China. In the first ten months, PHEV sales grew by 83% to almost 2 million units. It is well known that there is a strong trend in China towards so-called EREVs, electric vehicles with range extenders, which fall under plug-in hybrids.

According to the CAM, vehicles with plugs now account for more than a third (35%) of new car registrations in China. From January to October 2022, this figure was still 26,5%.

Export king

The People’s Republic is also becoming increasingly important for vehicle exports: by September 2023, around 3,4 million vehicles (+60%) had been sold overseas this year, including 825 000 BEVs and PHEVs (+110%).

This makes China the world export champion for the first time, overtaking Japan after it already did the same with Germany last year. Germany exported 2,4 million cars and Japan 3,2 million vehicles between January and September.

China’s largest exporters are SAIC and Chery, with 761 000 and 648 000 vehicles, respectively, followed by Tesla (265 000 from its Chinese gigafactory), Changan (261 000), and Geely (247 000).