Beijing (ZXZC)- In the fifth month of 2023, Tesla sold 77,695 China-made vehicles via wholesale, representing a 2.44% rise over a month ago and a staggering 141.55% soar over the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

In the first five months of this year, the cumulative wholesale volume of China-made Tesla vehicles summed up to 382,859 vehicles, which surged 77.37% from the year-ago period.

Model Y; photo credit: Tesla

In May, China’s new energy passenger vehicle (NEPV) wholesale volume reached roughly 673,000 vehicles, shooting up 59.4% year on year while also climbing 11.5% over that of the earlier month. From January to May, there were about 2.778 million NEPVs sold via wholesale in total, surging 46.5% from a year earlier.

In terms of monthly wholesale volume of NEPVs in May, twelve automakers boasted a number exceeding 10,000 units, which accounted for 82.7% of the country's total NEPV wholesale volume in the past month. Specifically, the automakers were BYD (239,092 units), Tesla China (77,695 units), GAC AION (45,003 units), SAIC Passenger Vehicle (29,126 units), Li Auto (28,277 units), Geely Auto (27,036 units), Changan Auto (26,914 units), SAIC-GM-Wuling (24,373 units), Great Wall Motor (23,755 units), NETA Auto (13,029 units), Leapmotor (12,058 units), and Dongfeng eGT (10,569 units). 

Han EV; photo credit: BYD

Judging from the overall monthly retail volume of NEPVs in China, China’s locally-owned brands accounted for 50.4% of the entire NEPV market, edging up 0.9 percentage points from a month ago. The market share of new energy vehicle startups stood at 12.8% in the past month, slipping 3.9 percentage points compared to the year-ago period. The CPCA commented that compared to the previous month and year, the performance of such startups as Li Auto and Leapmotor, remained robust. 

Outside of China, a total of 92,000 NEPVs were exported by Chinese automakers last month, indicating an impressive 135.7% soar year-on-year and a 1.2% edge up month-on-month. According to the CPCA, NEPVs accounted for about 30.5% of China's total passenger vehicle export volume in May, with 92.6% being battery-electric models.

The Association analyzed that in the overseas markets, A0-level electric vehicles account for 60% of exports and are the absolute mainstay. Domestic companies such as SAIC Motor have shown strong performance in Europe, while BYD is making a mark in Southeast Asia.