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China’s EV Market: A Surprising Start in 2025
The electric vehicle (EV) landscape in China witnessed a typical post-December sales dip as 2025 commenced. However, this downturn was not as drastic as anticipated.
Sales Overview
Comparing year-on-year (YoY) figures, the overall automotive market saw a notable decrease of 12%, reaching approximately 1.8 million units sold. In contrast, the plugins segment opened the year with an impressive 11% increase, totaling around 774,000 registrations for new energy passenger vehicles.
This positive trend lifted the plugin electric vehicle (PEV) market share to an impressive 42% at the start of January (with battery electric vehicles or BEVs capturing 24%), marking a significant rise of nearly ten percentage points from last year’s figures (or an additional six percent if we focus solely on BEVs). Although this share is below the final PEV percentage of 48% achieved in December last year (with BEVs at 25%), it is projected that by summer, this figure will likely hit that milestone and may surpass it by year’s end—potentially exceeding a robust share of over 65% during some months in Q4.
A Glimpse into Future Projections
Envision a scenario where China holds a staggering plugin market share of up to 66%. Such projections would have seemed highly improbable when I began tracking EV sales back in 2012.
Powertrain Performance Shift
Diving deeper into January’s data reveals an unexpected shift within powertrain dynamics. Fully electric models outpaced average growth rates for total plugins with their YoY increase soaring to about 13%. Furthermore, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) showed remarkable growth at +19%. Yet overall plugin growth was capped at just +11%. What explains this disparity?
The downward trend among extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which fell by an astonishing 24% YoY, plays a critical role here. Consequently, EREVs’ slice of the total plugin pie dwindled to merely nine percent; meanwhile PHEVs commanded a solid 34% and BEVs held 57% of registrations.
Current Rankings: Traditional vs Electric Models
