On November 11, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "CAAM") released the latest statistics showing that by October 2024, automobile production and sales were completed 24.466 million and 24.624 million, respectively, an increase of 1.9% and 2.7% year-on-year. Among them, domestic sales accounted for more than 80%, down 1.4%; Exports continued to grow, rising 24 per cent from a year earlier to 4.855 million units.

Data source: China Automobile Association

From the perspective of energy structure, although new energy vehicles are advancing all the way in the domestic market, the market penetration rate has even exceeded 50% for three consecutive months as of October, and the cumulative sales volume from January to October accounted for more than 40%, but in terms of exports, 78% of the share is still occupied by traditional fuel vehicles, and the export growth rate of new energy vehicles has further slowed to 6.3%.

Data source: China Automobile Association

However, this does not affect the rapid growth of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to October, the technology path exported 222,000 vehicles, compared with the export volume of 75,000 in the same period in 2023, an increase of 196%, becoming the dark horse of new energy vehicle exports. Among the top ten enterprises in vehicle exports, BYD, BAIC, Changan growth rate is also the most prominent, more than 60%.

Data source: China Automobile Association

Experts said that the outbreak of plug-in hybrid vehicles in the export, and domestic vehicle companies have layout of the plug-in hybrid market, and has gradually formed a scale effect, as well as the construction of foreign charging facilities is not perfect, there are many factors such as supplement anxiety.

He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Automobile, also publicly stated in a recent interview that compared with China, the replenishment system in overseas markets is not yet mature. Relevant data show that by the end of 2023, the number of overseas public charging piles is only 2.8 million, less than one third of the total number of public charging piles in China.

Due to a combination of factors, on November 6, Xiaopeng Motor officially announced its entry into the extended range hybrid power track and released the Xiaopeng Kunpeng super electric system. At the same time, there are a number of media reports that NIO, which has been adhering to the pure electric technology route, is also laying out hybrid powertrains, mainly for the Middle East market. The industry speculated that this may be a new attempt by Chinese car companies to open up the global market and achieve multi-leg walking.

According to the General Administration of Customs data organized by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first three quarters of 2024, Russia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates are still the top three countries for China's auto exports, while the top three markets for new energy vehicle exports are Belgium, Brazil and the United Kingdom.