Canalys: China's EV sales to grow by more than 50% in 2021

22 February 2021, 11:51:30

New research from Canalys shows that a record 1.3 million electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in China in 2020. But year-on-year growth was modest at only 8%. In comparison, worldwide sales of EVs rocketed by 39% in 2020, as reported here.

The Chinese government has been supportive of the transition to EVs, but several changes to EV-related policies and consumer subsidies in recent years disrupted the market and car makers struggled to build sales momentum. "The Chinese EV market in 2020 was all about two vehicles: the made-in-China Tesla Model 3, the market leader in the first half of 2020, and the Hongguang Mini EV from the SGMW joint venture (SAIC, General Motors and Wuling), the market leader in the second half of 2020, which only launched mid-year," said Chris Jones, Chief Analyst for automotive at Canalys, "If it had not been for the huge success of these two very different EVs, the Chinese EV market would have declined in 2020. Between them, the two models represented one in five of all EVs sold in China."

The 1.3 million EVs sold in China in 2020 represented 41% of global EV sales, just behind Europe with 42% of global EV sales. China is still far ahead of the US for EV share - in the US, EV sales represented just 2.4% of sales in 2020.

"Prospects are very good for China's EV market in 2021," said Jones. "There is already an excellent network of standardized public EV chargers in China, good government support and now a return to strong consumer demand." Tesla has already started deliveries of the made-in-China Model Y. Production of the Hongguang Mini EV has been increased to keep up with demand, particularly from young Chinese urbanites. Other small, more affordable city cars, such as the Baojun E-Series from SGMW and the Ora R1 from Great Wall Motors (GWM), are also proving very popular. The Ora R1, touted as the world’s cheapest EV, will also soon go on sale in India, where the EV share was less than 0.5% of all cars sold in 2020. Canalys forecasts 1.9 million EVs will be sold in China in 2021, growth of 51% and a 9% share of all cars sold in China.

"With a share of just 6.3% of all passenger cars sold in China in 2020, EVs have many years of growth ahead," said Sandy Fitzpatrick, VP at Canalys. "But with Tesla expanding its portfolio in China, it will be hard for competitors offering premium EVs to gain market share. With that in mind, some Chinese car makers are already looking for growth opportunities in other parts of the world, especially Europe," said Fitzpatrick.

China is still the world's largest car market. 30% of global car sales were in China in 2020, up from 27% in 2019. The overall Chinese car market will return to sales growth in 2021.Source

News related to EV, electric vehicles, Tesla, Model 3, SAIC or Hongguang

The first quarter of 2022 was another record quarter for Tesla by several measures such as revenues, vehicle deliveries, operating profit, and an operating margin of over 19%. In terms of revenues, automotive ones for Tesla have increased by 87% YoY to $16.861 billion with automotive gross profit increasing by 132% YoY. The operating income improved to $3.6B in Q1, resulting in a 19.2% operating margin. In Q1 of...

21 April 2022

NHK reports that Panasonic plans to build a plant in the USA to build 4680 batteries for Tesla. According to the media's sources, the Japanese company ponders on buying land in Oklahoma or Kansas. The latest Tesla gigafactory is in Texas, which borders Oklahoma state. A week ago, Panasonic officially said that it will commence producing batteries for Tesla in two years in its Wakayama factory. There's no official...

4 March 2022

Panasonic today announced that its Energy Company will establish a production facility at its Wakayama Factory in western Japan to manufacture the 4680 lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles (EVs) in order to expand its business globally. To contribute to the rapid adoption of EVs, Panasonic has been working to enhance its line-up of automotive lithium-ion batteries. Currently, Panasonic is developing the...

28 February 2022

The zero-emission Audi Q4 e-tron has risen to the top amid a stellar field of all-electric finalists to earn the coveted honor as Green Car Journal's 2022 Green Car of the Year. It's joined by an exceptional field of winners in five additional Green Car Awards categories including the Lucid Air, Chevrolet Bolt EUV, Hyundai IONIQ 5, BrightDrop EV600, and Tesla Model S Plaid. All-electric vehicles, the environmental...

5 November 2021

While sales of conventional vehicles have suffered under supply shortages and long delivery times, EVs are rolling out of dealerships in Germany. The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) says that in the month of October, for the first time, electric vehicles accounted for 30.4 percent of new vehicle registrations. That's due to the current dynamics of the market. "The explanation is relatively...

5 November 2021

The Government of Canada is making it easier for Canadians to drive electric. Today, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Member of Parliament for South Shore–St. Margarets and Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced a $100,000 investment to Nova Scotia Power to install 20 electric vehicle (EV) chargers at Nova...

17 July 2021

Tesla produced 206,421 and delivered 201,250 vehicles in Q2 of 2021. The number of Model 3 and Model Y units produced is 204,081 and the delivered - 199,360. The corresponding accumulative figures for the Model S and Model X are 2,340 and 1,890, respectively.

2 July 2021

The Tesla Model S Plaid has been officially presented at a delivery event in Fremont today which was ended with the first 25 deliveries of the new model. Several hundred units of Model S Plaid should be produced per week to reach 1000 units per week in Q3. The vehicle is priced at $130,000. There's a version without the tri-motor powertrain that costs $80,000 and has a longer range of 412 miles. Presented as the...

11 June 2021

Tesla's Q1 2021 report contains several interesting pieces of information. But first things first - let's talk about production and deliveries. In the first quarter, Tesla has produced just over 180,000 vehicles and delivered nearly 185,000 vehicles. The new Model S and Model X have been "exceptionally well received", with the new equipment installed and tested in Q1 and Tesla in the early stages of ramping...

27 April 2021

The 2021 Tesla Model X refresh is largely similar to that of the 2021 Model S. For a more detailed overview, you can check out the report on the Model S. It includes the updated drivetrain and battery pack as well as the interior with the new steering wheel (Yoke Steering), 17" Cinematic Display, tri-zone climate control, etc. The Model X retains its panoramic windshield and can also be configured up to 7 seats. On...

28 January 2021

Tesla has unveiled the long-awaited refresh of the Model S introducing a new drivetrain with technology already used by the Model 3 and Model Y, including carbon-sleeved rotors and torque vectoring for the Plaid and Plaid+ trims. In addition, while using the same 18650 cells, Tesla has redesigned the battery pack with new coolant channels and added the hear pump introduced on the Model 3 and Model Y. The redesigned...

28 January 2021

Jointly founded by SAIC Motor, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group, IM Motors (Zhiji Motors in Chinese), a premium intelligent pure electric vehicle brand, was simultaneously premiered in Shanghai China, CES in Las Vegas and London, UK. At the brand launch, IM Motors unveiled two ready-for-production models - the Intelligent Pure Electric Car and SUV. The English brand name IM Motors stands for Intelligence in...

18 January 2021

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China has issued its latest list for approved new vehicles for the local market and another list for new NEV vehicles that are approved for the government's tax exemption purchase. The China-made Tesla Model Y with model code TSL6480BEVBA0 is included in those lists, meaning it can now be sold and the new owners of Model Y unit produced at Tesla Giga...

30 November 2020

The State Grid Co., Ltd. held an event in Beijing on November 20 to launch its latest ambitious project - a China-wide EV charging grid that includes more than 1.03 million public and private charging stations that cover the 29 provinces and 273 cities serving 5.5 million EV drivers. Among them, there are 140,000 self-operated charging stations by the State Grid, 380,000 private charging stations, and more than...

23 November 2020