Author: Rookie Driver

On August 11th, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released the sales rankings of new energy vehicles (NEVs) for July. At the moment when the data and rankings were announced, many viewers must have been surprised, as the changes on the list are remarkable.

This month, the sales of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV once again exceeded 30,000 units, an increase of 1,563 units compared with last month. It firmly holds the top spot. Unexpectedly, BYD Qin PLUS DM-i took the second place, and Tesla Model 3, which has always taken the second place, dropped sharply to the sixth place. Another surprise is that Baojun E-Star suddenly surged into the third place and sold more than Ideal ONE. The sales rankings of NEVs in July are really worth watching.

In addition, the wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in July reached 246,000 units, an increase of 5.1% month-on-month and 202.9% year-on-year. Among them, the wholesale sales of pure electric vehicles reached 198,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 205%, and the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles reached 47,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 196%, accounting for 19%.

Wuling Hongguang Mini EV again exceeds 30,000, remaining unbeaten in the top spot for 11 consecutive months

Before the appearance of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, Tesla had always occupied the top spot. Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, known as the “people’s car,” naturally has its reasons. Since September 2020, it has defeated Tesla and won the sales championship. The sales of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV this month reached 30,706 units, which has been unbeaten for 11 consecutive months, creating a mythical “record”.

According to the official disclosure of SAIC-GM-Wuling, unlike other domestic NEV brands with a large number of B2B orders, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV has a personal user proportion of over 96%, and it belongs to the true “people’s car”.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Wuling Hongguang MINI EV has stimulated the potential of the micro-car market. Many domestic car companies saw its success and followed suit, some of which were even earlier than Wuling Hongguang MINI EV. However, recently, a “twin brother” that looks very similar to Wuling Hongguang MINI EV has appeared– Chery QQ ice cream. At first glance, it is really difficult to distinguish between them, and upon careful observation, it has a bit of a copycat taste towards Wuling Hongguang MINI EV.

It’s obvious that the success of the Hongguang Mini EV has attracted numerous competitors, who also seek to profit in the micro-car market. Just recently, the Leiding Mango, which starts at 29,800 yuan and competes with the Hongguang Mini EV, as well as the larger Chery eQ1, have emerged. Therefore, the appearance of the Chery QQ Ice Cream is intended to compete directly with the Hongguang Mini EV.

Their appearance will make the new energy market more exciting. Although the current price range of the Hongguang Mini EV is competitive, with more competitors, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain.

How long can the myth of the “People’s Commuter Car” continue?

Model 3 Sales Drop by 10,000, Falling to Historical Low

In this month’s sales chart, the drop in sales of Model 3 attracts more attention than anything else. Compared to June’s 16,515 units, this month’s sales decreased by 10,038 units, a 60.78% drop, hitting a historical low in sales, and the only one on the entire list with a year-on-year decline. It is worth noting that Tesla’s sales have already fallen sharply in April this year, but recovered in May and June, and now there has been a sharp drop again in July. What caused this roller coaster in Tesla sales?

First, let’s take a look at Tesla’s wholesale sales this month. According to statistics, Tesla’s wholesale sales reached 32,968 units in July, with 24,347 units exported from China, breaking the 20,000 mark for the first time, a 385% increase month-on-month. So, it is not difficult to see that the main reason for Tesla’s sales plummeting in July was the impact of exports.

In addition, data released by the Passenger Car Association shows that Tesla Model Y sold only 2,144 units in July, a drop of 81.55% compared to the previous month. Therefore, there was no trace of the Model Y on July’s sales chart. We learned that due to the fact that the standard range Model Y was set to be delivered in August, priced at 276,000 yuan, many users switched to the standard range of the Model Y, which was the main reason for the sales decline of the Model Y in July.

Perhaps in response to the decline in sales, Tesla had to show its skill in cutting prices again and announced on July 30 that it was reducing the price of the Model 3 Standard Range Plus upgrade to 235,900 yuan. Although this comes as a shock to many new car buyers, people seem to be gradually numb to Tesla’s sudden price cuts. From this performance, it appears that the practice of cutting prices may become increasingly difficult to save Tesla’s sales in the future.

As the choices of new energy vehicles continue to expand, competitors are gradually being recognized by the market, and consumers have a clearer understanding of electric vehicles, it is difficult to say what Tesla’s future position will be.

Song DM and Qin PLUS EV doing well

In July, BYD still had five models on the list, namely the Qin PLUS DM-i, Song DM, Han EV, Qin PLUS EV, and Yuan EV, but this month Yuan EV replaced BYD e2. The most noteworthy of them is undoubtedly the Qin PLUS DM-i in second place, with sales of 9,127 in July, although 142 fewer than the 9,269 sales in the previous month. It is not difficult to see that it is because of the decline in Tesla’s sales that the Qin PLUS DM-i rose to second place, and its stable sales performance has been well recognized by the market.

In addition, we can see that both the Song DM and Qin PLUS EV have good growth in sales as well as rankings. Among them, the Song DM jumped from 11th to 5th place, with sales of 7,085 in July, an increase of 1,635 from the previous month, a month-on-month increase of 30%.

Since its launch in April this year, the pure electric vehicle Qin PLUS EV has been on the list of best-selling vehicles and has been in a state of continuous growth. This month, Qin PLUS EV sold 5,342, an increase of 1,070 from the previous month, an increase of 25% month-on-month. This shows that its product strength and cost-effectiveness are a strong blow to competitors.

The sales of the Han EV this month were 5,592, a slight decrease but relatively stable, but it has been overtaken by its competitor, XPeng P7. In addition, the Yuan EV made it to the list with sales of 3,785, pushing its own brother e2 off the list. Although the level of the Yuan EV and the BYD e2 are different, their prices and positioning are basically similar, so it is difficult to judge who will continue to stay on the list in the future.

Benben E-Star in third place, steady and stableIn July, there is another “magic car”, which is the third-ranked Benben E-Star with sales of 8701 units, a MoM increase of 36.89% and a YoY surge of 1679.3%. It can be regarded as the second powerful player among new energy mini-cars. Although it has not yet sold over 10,000 units in a month, its emergence is undoubtedly aimed at the Hongguang MINI EV. With a similar price and positioning, it is even not inferior compared to Hongguang MINI EV in all aspects.

The new energy mini-car market is currently hot with soaring demand, indicating that the potential of Benben E-Star is huge. Who knows, it might have a chance to climb to the top.

Four new forces on the list, the second echelon appear

The overall trend of sales growth in new car-making forces this year is good. In July, the delivery volume of Ideal and XPeng vehicles both exceeded 8000 units, while the second echelon, NIO and Leapmotor, also showed sustained growth, setting new delivery records. It is worth mentioning that Ideal ONE has a monthly sales of 8589 units, ranking fourth; XPeng P7 sold 6054 units, surpassing BYD Han EV, indicating that the strength of XPeng is gradually revealing.

The second echelon of new car-making forces is also on the list. We can find the figures of NIO V and Leapmotor T03 on this month’s list, with sales of 4469 units and 4283 units respectively, totaling four new car-making models on the list. This also confirms the good development trend of new car-making forces and the gradually expanding market share.

In the sales data of July, we can know that new car-making enterprises are gradually accepted and recognized by consumers, and everyone can see their growth rate. At the same time, it also proves the success of this sales model for new car-making forces. We look forward to better performance from new car-making forces.

ConclusionThe difference between the new energy age and the era of fuel-powered cars is that pure electric micro-cars have taken an important place. The emergence of Hongguang MINI EV has ignited the micro-car market, followed by the strong sales of micro-cars from many car companies, inspiring many new brands to enter the market. Even many well-known car companies have launched exquisite and small micro-cars. However, there are still too many variables in deciding the ultimate winner.

This list from July is full of highlights, and the situation has changed dramatically. The truly powerful car companies have already begun to show their edge, and those at the top are attracting opponents. The current sales and rankings are just a mere accomplishment, whether good or bad, it will become history, let alone that the battle of the new energy era has just begun.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.