What do people actually drive in China?
There are more and more electric models of Chinese brands for sale in the Netherlands and Europe. But what do the Chinese actually buy themselves? Especially Tesla’s Model Y, but it is the Chinese BYD that dominates the sales charts in its home country. And not only with regard to fully electric cars.
Figures from Jato show that BYD registered the most new cars in China in the first half of this year. It kicks Volkswagen off the throne, which has often been in the lead in recent years. In the first six months of 2023, 1,191,410 new BYD passenger cars were registered in China. That was no less than 548,204 more than in the same period last year. BYD records a growth of 85 percent and claims a substantial market share of no less than 11 percent. Volkswagen is in place with 967,149 registered cars in the first half of 2023. A huge number for Dutch standards, of course, but there were 8 percent less than in the first half of 2022 (1,051,569 units).
Toyota is in third place, followed by Chinese car manufacturers Changan and Geely. Honda finishes in sixth place. Chery closes in at seventh, followed by Tesla at eight. GAC is just above Audi, which closes the top 10.
Most Registered Brands in China (Jan-Jun 2023)
| Brand | Jan-June 2023 | % difference compared to Jan-June 2022 | Market share | |
| 1 | BYD | 1,191,410 | +85.23% | 10.57% |
| 2 | Volkswagen | 967,149 | -8.03% | 8.58% |
| 3 | Toyota | 811,574 | -8.62% | 7.20% |
| 4 | Changan | 583,755 | +16.99% | 5.18% |
| 5 | Geely | 521,777 | +13.82% | 4.63% |
| 6 | Honda | 516,910 | -25.24% | 4.59% |
| 7 | Chery | 515,246 | +47.99 % | 4.57% |
| 8 | Tesla | 476,539 | +61.67% | 4.23% |
| 9 | GAC | 399,291 | +45.27% | 3.54% |
| 10 | Audi | 294,709 | +6.21% | 2.62% |
In the first half of 2023, most new Tesla Model Y vehicles were registered in China. The Tesla accounted for more than 316,000 registrations and a market share of 2.81 percent. Furthermore, BYD is the absolute king of the top 10 models. For example, we find the BYD Qin – the smaller brother of the Han – available as an EV or as a plug-in – in second place, the Yuan Plus – known to us as the Atto 3 – in third place and the Song Plus (the smaller brother of the Tang) in fourth place. The electric Dolphin, which is also available in the Netherlands, is in seventh position. The Nissan Sylphy squeezes between the BYDs and is in sixth place. The Tesla Model 3 is also doing quite well and is in seventh place. Positions eight and nine are two unknown Volkswagens here: the Lavida and the Sagitar. Toyota’s Camry closes the model top 10.
Most Registered Models in China (Jan-Jun 2023)
| Brand | Fashion model | Jan-June 2023 | % difference compared to Jan-June 2022 | Market share | |
| 1 | Tesla | Model Y | 316,564 | +76.81% | 2.81% |
| 2 | BYD | Qin | 215,773 | +47.05% | 1.91% |
| 3 | BYD | Yuan Plus | 197,825 | +260.69 % | 1.76% |
| 4 | BYD | SongPlus | 184.212 | -% | 1.63% |
| 5 | Nissan | Sylphy | 179,771 | -21.25% | 1.60% |
| 6 | BYD | Dolphin | 162,848 | +178.31% | 1.45% |
| 7 | Tesla | Model 3 | 159,975 | +38.25% | 1.42% |
| 8 | Volkswagen | Lavida | 142,812 | -12.26% | 1.27% |
| 9 | Volkswagen | Sagitar | 118.051 | +2.76% | 1.05% |
| 10 | Toyota | Camry | 108,740 | -17.31% | 0.96% |
Electric cars: most registered brands in China (Jan-June 2023)
Although the Model Y was the most registered new passenger car in China in the past six months, BYD registered the most new EVs overall. No less than 1,191,410 battery BYDs found a Chinese owner in the first half of this year, accounting for a third of the EV market. Tesla is in second place with 476,539 registered cars. Furthermore, with the exception of Volkswagen, there are only Chinese brands in this top 10.
| Brand | Jan-June 2023 | % difference compared to Jan-June 2022 | Market share | |
| 1 | BYD | 1,191,410 | +86.70 % | 33.35% |
| 2 | Tesla | 476,539 | +61.67% | 13.34% |
| 3 | GAC | 213,961 | +109.09 % | 5.99% |
| 4 | Li Auto | 139.117 | +130.31% | 3.89% |
| 6 | MG | 121,963 | +322.95 % | 3.41% |
| 8 | Changan | 101,378 | +45.07% | 2.84% |
| 5 | Wuling | 96,638 | -56.52% | 2.71% |
| 7 | Geely | 62,947 | +244.10 % | 1.76% |
| 9 | Volkswagen | 60,063 | -25.37% | 1.68% |
| 10 | Nio | 55,770 | +6.64% | 1.56% |
Most registered electric cars in China (Jan-June 2023)
The Tesla Model Y was the most registered new passenger car in China and was logically the most popular new electric car in China in the past six months. In the top 10 most registered new models, BYD also dominates the ranking of most registered EVs in China. No less than six models are in the top 10: the electric versions of the Qin and the Song Plus, the Yuan Plus (Atto 3), Dolphin, Han and the small new Seagull are all in it. Furthermore, GAC does very well with successively the Aion S and Aion Y.
| Brand | Fashion model | Jan-June 2023 | % difference compared to Jan-June 2022 | Market share | |
| 1 | Tesla | Model Y | 316,564 | +76.81% | 8.86% |
| 2 | BYD | Qin | 215,773 | +47.05% | 6.04% |
| 3 | BYD | Yuan Plus | 197,825 | +260.69 % | 5.54% |
| 4 | BYD | SongPlus | 184.212 | -% | 5.16% |
| 5 | BYD | Dolphin | 162,848 | +178.31% | 4.56% |
| 6 | Tesla | Model 3 | 159,975 | +38.25% | 4.48% |
| 7 | GAC | Aion S | 114,599 | +187.04 % | 3.21% |
| 8 | BYD | Han | 96.031 | -1.23% | 2.69% |
| 9 | GAC | Aion Y | 91,009 | +105.66 % | 2.55% |
| 10 | BYD | Seagull | 38,805 | -% | 1.09% |
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl