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I just reported on the top selling electric models in China. Now, let’s have a look at the top selling EV brands and auto groups.
Looking at the overall manufacturer ranking (not just electrics), I believe the most relevant fact could be that BYD has found out the demand ceiling of its domestic market. After rather quickly surpassing the previous leaders, Toyota and Volkswagen, the Shenzhen make continued to grow fast — while its most direct competitors continued to lose share.
As such, sooner or later, BYD would find its own demand ceiling. And having grown just 2% in April, compared to the 17% growth of the total market, this could be the warning sign that BYD has touched the ceiling and export markets are now the only significant engine of growth for the brand.
On the other hand, #2 Geely is still far from these kinds of issues, having seen its sales jump 116% in April. Its YTD growth is equally impressive, with sales up by 87% YoY, and its current #2 spot is a significant improvement over the #4 position it had a year ago. This is while almost all foreign representatives are seeing sales drop, or fall off a cliff in the worst of cases (Honda is -36% YoY).
Regarding position changes, BMW joined the table, in 9th, while Tesla was kicked out of the top 10.
Outside this top 10, a mention goes out to #19 Xpeng (+277% YoY — 117,000 units) and #20 Leapmotor (+120% — 108,000 units), which continue to score surging deliveries. Then there’s also #21 Xiaomi, which had 107,000 registrations … despite having just one model on sale.
On the losers side, many foreign brands are on their way out. Jaguar Land Rover is one example, having seen its sales drop by half compared to last year. Meanwhile, Chevrolet is down … 76%(!) this year, to just 5,000 units in 2025. Hyundai is hoping to stay relevant in China, but with sales down by 41% YoY this year, to 39,000 units, it will be an uphill battle.
Auto Brands Selling the Most Electric Vehicles in China
Looking at the auto brand ranking for plugin vehicles, there isn’t much news. BYD (26.3%, down from 26.4%) remains as stable in its leadership position as ever.
Despite losing share, it is the same story with Geely (10.5%, down 0.1% in April), with the brand now standing firm in the runner-up position. That is a major improvement from the 5th spot it had in the same period last year.
Things get more interesting below, though. Wuling (5.4%, down from 5.6% in March) stayed in the 3rd spot, gaining some distance over Tesla during its off-peak month of April (4.9% now vs. 5.6% in March).
In a normal timeline, this would mean that in June, Tesla would surely surpass Wuling, but because we are in an alternative timeline, where chaos and antagonism rules the US administration, Tesla’s task is now harder than in the previous timeline. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if, for the first time since 2019, Tesla couldn’t reach the podium of the Chinese EV manufacturer table by the end of the year.
Elsewhere, #5 Li Auto (3.8%) gained some ground over #6 Xpeng (3.5%, down 0.1%), keeping Xpeng and #7 Leapmotor (3.3%) in the rearview mirror.
Auto Groups Selling the Most Electric Vehicles in China
Looking at OEMs/automotive groups/alliances, BYD is comfortably leading, with 29% share of the market, benefitting from positive performances from Denza and Fangchengbao, while Geely is a distant runner-up with 13.3% share.
Far from runner-up Geely, there was a position change in the 3rd spot. Changan (6.5%) benefitted from a sliding SAIC (6.3%, down from 6.5% in March) and is the new bronze medalist. Expect these two to continue competing for the last place on the podium in the upcoming months.
Tesla (4.9%) remained in 5th, but because of the previously mentioned reasons, Tesla’s 2024 3rd spot in the OEM ranking now seems almost impossible to achieve, and it could even be the case that there will be no Tesla in this top 5 at the end of the year, as #6 Chery (4.6%) could surpass it in the coming months.
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