Sales of new energy vehicles in China continued to show strength for a fifth consecutive month in October.
In October, NEV sales in the world's largest market for them more than doubled year on year to 144,000 units. The comparable sales in September rose by 8% year over year to 131,022. NEVs consist of battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
Sales of BEVs, the largest NEV segment, hit 121,000 in October, up 137% year on year. EVs currently hold a market share of more than 5% in China's total car market, including internal combustion engine vehicles. Of this 5% share, more than 4% belongs to BEVs.
The top selling NEV maker for October was the SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile joint venture between SAIC Motor, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Motors.
In second place was BYD Co Ltd, which is 10% owned by MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Tesla, Inc. was fourth on the list, selling 12,143 BEVs in October. A price cut for the Model 3 sedans starting Oct. 1 helped boost demand for its cars.
Tesla cut the starting price of its Model 3 sedans by some 8% to $36,805 (249,900 yuan), once Chinese subsidies for EVs are taken into account.
The old starting price for Model 3s made in Tesla's Shanghai gigafactory with a standard driving range was $41,000 after state purchase subsidies.
Tesla exported 10,000 MIC Model 3s to other countries after saying it would start exports to European markets Oct. 20.
Ford's joint ventures also reported strong October sales increases. Local EV firms such as BYD, Nio, Xpeng Motors and Li Auto are becoming credible rivals to Tesla.
Last week, Xpeng reported a 229% year-on-year sales jump in October. This compares with a doubling of sales for Nio and an 85% jump for BYD. Li Auto, which began mass production only in November 2019, said October deliveries rose 5% month over month. In October, Nio's monthly sales exceeded 5,000 for the first time.
