Global new energy vehicle market in January: major reshuffle in model lists in many countries

January 2021 continued to be a hot month for most global new energy vehicle segments. Out of the nine countries we counted (specific figures for Spain are not available except for market share), seven countries saw an increase in new energy vehicle sales, with three markets - China, Germany and South Korea - seeing triple-digit sales increases; all countries except China and Spain had double-digit EV market shares, with Norway leading the way with 80.7% of the market.

In terms of models, there was a major reshuffle in the multi-country EV sales charts in January. With the exception of the Volkswagen ID.3, which topped the German chart with 1,799 units sold, neither the Volkswagen ID.3 nor the Tesla Model 3 were visible in France, the UK, Norway, Sweden or the Netherlands. The top-selling EVs in France and the Netherlands were the Peugeot 3008 PHEV and Volvo XC40 PHEV respectively; the best-selling all-electric model in the UK was the Kia Niro EV; and the best-selling all-electric car in Norway was the Audi e-tron.

On 9 February 2021, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers ("CAAM") released its latest production and sales figures. According to the data, in January 2021, China's passenger vehicle production and sales reached 1.910 million units and 2.045 million units respectively, down 18.1% and 13.9% from a year earlier, and up 32.4% and 26.8% from a year earlier.

In January, the production and sales of new energy vehicles completed 194,000 units and 179,000 units respectively, an increase of 285.8% and 238.5% year-on-year, which is the seventh consecutive month of new energy vehicles to set a new monthly sales record. Among them, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles completed 166,000 and 151,000 respectively, an increase of 366.6% and 287.8% respectively; the production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles completed 28,000 and 29,000 respectively, an increase of 92.4% and 104.7% respectively; the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles completed 29 and 63 respectively, a decrease of 80.0% and 63.2% respectively. Fuel cell vehicle production and sales were 29 and 63 units respectively, down 80.0% and 63.2% year-on-year.

The analysis of the CCA pointed out that there were two reasons for the significant year-on-year increase in production and sales in January, one being that the current market demand is still recovering, and the other being that the base level was low due to the 2020 Spring Festival holiday in January and the impact of the epidemic at the beginning of last year. In addition, the faster decline in production ringgit reflects the lack of auto chip supply affecting the production pace of companies.

At the beginning of 2021, Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of CAC, said that the recent tight supply of chips will also have an impact on global auto production for some time to come, which in turn will affect the stability of China's auto industry operations, and it is uncertain whether this impact cycle will be alleviated in the second quarter of 2021.

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