BEIJING, February 2 (TMTPost) -- The auto market did not show a strong performance in the first month of 2024 despite the upcoming Chinese New Year, when people celebrate and go on a shopping spree.

Major new energy car brands announced their sales performance for the first month of 2024 on Thursday. The overall performance was not impressive. Most brands experienced a decrease in sales when it comes to month-on-month performance.

Judging from the January sales performance of 25 new energy car brands, TMTPost found that only eight brands achieved positive month-on-month growth. Among them, Aito achieved a month-on-month surge of 35% to 33,000 units. It surpassed NIO for the first time as the monthly sales champion among emerging electric vehicle makers.

The number of new energy brands with sales exceeding 10,000 units in January was 15, down from 17 in December 2023. However, Aya grew from over 5,000 units in December 2023 to over 10,000 units in January 2024, making it one of the few brands with month-on-month growth.

BYD Auto sold 201,000 passenger cars in January, a year-on-year increase of 33.9%. BYD, with Ocean series and Dynasty series, sold 185,000 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 29%. It is leading the new energy car enterprises, far ahead the second of the kind.

Geely Holding achieved a historic high of 66,000 units in January's new energy car sales, with a year-on-year increase of 591%.

Geely's Galaxy saw a month-on-month growth rate of over 59% to 19,000 units. Its Geometry experienced a month-on-month growth of over three times to 21,000 units. The Lynk & Co EM-P family, which focuses on the new plug-in hybrid motors, saw a year-on-year growth of 155% to 13,000 units. And Zeekr, positioned as a high-end brand that focused on pure electric cars, delivered nearly 13,000 units in January, a year-on-year growth of over three times.

Great Wall Motors, the common rival of BYD and Geely, showed a somewhat mediocre performance in the new energy car market. With a sale of nearly 25,000 new energy passenger cars in January, Great Wall Motors achieved a year-on-year increase of nearly three times, but a month-on-month decrease of 17%. It failed to maintain the momentum of continuous growth.

Great Wall Motors did not disclose the January sales of Ora, which sells only pure electric cars, and Wey, which focuses on plug-in hybrid cars. Only the new energy performance of the Haval and Tank brands was announced. The Haval sold 6,005 new energy cars in January, a year-on-year increase of 276%, with Menglong contributing 4,207 units. The Tank sold 9,631 new energy cars in January, a month-on-month increase of 17%. The Tank 400 Hi4-T sold 4,586 units, a month-on-month increase of 12%, and the Tank 500 Hi4-T sold 5,045 units, a month-on-month increase of 21%.

In terms of new energy off-road vehicles, Great Wall Motors is facing a challenge from BYD's Fangchengbao, whose Leopard 5 model sold 5,303 units in January, a month-on-month increase of 4.27%. Its sale exceeded 5,000 units for two consecutive months. As a direct competitor to Tank 400 Hi4-T, Leopard 5 temporarily surpassed the former.

Aito Takes the Lead

Aito became the utlimate winner in January. It delivered nearly 33,000 new cars in January, a month-on-month increase of 35%, and a year-on-year increase of 637%. Achieving a historic high in monthly sales, it also won the monthly sales champion among new forces for the first time.

Regarding Aito's performance, Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei's Automotive Business Unit, seemed particularly excited. He said in a post that the top priority now is to ensure high-quality delivery and put more new cars into the hands of consumers.

However, Huawei's HiCar is facing numerous complaints from users, with many expressing extreme anger over the repeated delays in the delivery of cars. Aito M9, which was launched in December last year, slowly started delivery on January 26, one month later, with a limit of 2,000 units. The Luxeed S7, launched in November last year, is still in short supply.

Although orders continue to pour into the HiCar stores, Huawei and its partners undoubtedly need to be vigilant against the impact on the brand image due to the inability to fulfill deliveries.

If delayed delivery can be considered a happy trouble for Huawei, other brands are experiencing real troubles due to insufficient demand. The continued popularity of Huawei's HiCar is hitting Li Auto the most. The brand delivered over 31,000 units in January, with a year-on-year growth of over 100%, but a nearly 40% month-on-month decrease.

Li Auto had long held the top spot in the sales rankings among new energy vehicle startups in 2023, even introducing a weekly sales to highlight its leading position. However, in the first month of 2024, the brand lost the monthly championship. Previously analyzed by TMTPost, the battle for the 2024 new energy vehicle (NEV) champion would unfold between Huawei's HiCar brand and Li Auto, and their rivalry is just beginning.

If Li Auto's being surpassed by Aito was expected, the sales performance of XPeng Motors was somewhat surprising.

XPeng Motors delivered a total of 8,250 new cars in January, a year-on-year increase of 58%. Although the sales did not reach the ten thousand mark and the performance fell short of expectations, insiders told TMTPost that they remain optimistic about XPeng's overall performance in 2024.

Currently, the XPeng X9 has initiated  deliveries in over 100 cities in China, with cumulative deliveries reaching 2,478 units. The Max version accounts for nearly 70% of the purchases. According to insiders, XPeng X9 accumulated tens of thousands of orders in January, and during the Chinese New Year, they will work overtime to rapidly increase production capacity to ensure timely deliveries.

The performance of new energy startups in January was not satisfactory. Apart from Aito, NIO, and AVITA achieving month-on-month growth, other brands experienced varying degrees of year-on-year decline. It can be foreseen that, in order to gain more market share, the intensity of market competition in the coming months may once again caught people by surprise.

 Cut-throat Competition

An undeniable fact is that, after explosive growth in 2021 and 2022 and a more subdued growth in 2023, the new energy vehicle market in 2024 may further highlight the issue of growth bottlenecks.

Data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows that from January 1 to 28, the overall retail volume of passenger cars reached 1.708 million units, a year-on-year increase of 64%, but a month-on-month decrease of 15%. Among them, the retail volume of NEVs was 596,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 92%, but a month-on-month decrease of 28%. It is nearly twice the decline rate of the overall market. As of January 28th, the market penetration rate of NEVs in January was 34.9%, not only falling below the long-term penetration rate of over 35% maintained last year but also dropping over 5 percentage points from December's 40.2%.

The market is now witnessing increased competition and a faster pace of survival of the fittest.

Since January this year, nearly all new energy vehicle brands have reduced their price, reflecting the unprecedented competition in the market.

Tesla, which hardly reduced prices in 2023, lowered its prices twice by 6,500 yuan to 15,500 yuan at the beginning of January. Then, it introduced a limited-time insurance subsidy, free paint for paid cars, and a low-interest policy at the beginning of February. Lowering prices twice in one month clearly indicates Tesla's urgent need to boost sales and reflects the intensified competition in the Chinese market.

According to TMTPost statistics, nearly 20 new energy vehicle brands implemented price reduction measures in the past January. For example, NIO, which had previously insisted on not reducing prices, provided a maximum cash discount of 32,000 yuan for a single model in January. Zeekr 001, which adhered to not breaking the 300,000 yuan bottom line, dropped to a historical low of less than 270,000 yuan. Examples of price reductions abound.

With slowing market growth and the influx of more players and new models, the intensity of market competition in the entire year of 2024 may exceed expectations. However, no matter how many people are pessimistic about this year's car market, there will still be winners and popular models emerging in the market.

(This article was first published on TMTPost App. Author: Wang Ruihao, Editor: Zhang Min)