Analysts were expecting China to sell more than 60,000 green cars and hybrids but the truth is that only 44,874 new electric cars were sold by December. But let's be honest, even with these results they outsold more plug-in vehicles than US or Europe did. Overall China car sales share rose to a record of 1.45% above the USA (0.8%) and Europe (1.4%).
Despite the “disappointing” plateauing in December, which is a bit like what happens when you expect that Usain Bolt will break the 0–100 meter world record every time he goes on the track, looking at the big picture, the 351,861 electric car sales registered in China during 2016 represent approximately 46% of aLL plug-ins sold worldwide this year, with Chinese carmakers responsible for 43% of all EV production in 2016.
Here are last month’s top 5 best-selling models:
#1 – Geely Emgrand EV with a massive 6,023 registrations, a new all-time record for a single model in China.
#2 – BAIC EC180: landed on the market in December with a bang, earning 4,128 registrations, a new record for a debut month.
#3 – Chery Arrizo 7 PHEV: Having arrived just in October, it is already reaching the podium thanks to 2,922 registrations last month.
#4 – BYD e6: Popular among taxi fleets, this model ended the year with 2,528 registrations in December.
#5 – BYD e5: This regular-looking sedan is on the rise, having beaten its monthly record in December with 2,420 registrations.
