Sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 55,723 units in March, soaring 102% year on year and 93% month on month, according to the data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Apr. 10. What's more, sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 116,918 units in the first quarter, soaring 136% compared with the same period last year.
As to specific vehicle types, pure electric passenger vehicles saw YoY sales growth of 78% to 40,947 units in March, taking up 73% of NEV's total sales. Pure electric passenger vehicles Q1 sales reached 79,537 units. In addition, sales of plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles reached 14,776 units in March, skyrocketing 220% over the previous year. And the cumulative sales of 37,380 units during the first quarter this year.
When it comes to automakers, BYD, BAIC BJEV and SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle were top three best-selling automakers in March. Among them, BYD led the pack with March sales of 13,112 units, surging 108% compared with the same period last year. During January and March, BYD delivered 28,499 units with a YoY sales surge of over 200%.
BAIC BJEV ranked second with NEV deliveries of 8,876 units in March, up 24% over the previous year. Its cumulative sales reached 13,436 units in the first quarter with a YoY surge of 67%. The third ranker, SAIC Passenger Vehicle sold 5,710 units in March, doubling the March sales last year. It delivered 13,436 NEVs in the first quarter with a YoY sales surge of 117%.
Despite the reduction of subsidies in A00 class electric vehicles, the A00 class achieved an unexpected YoY sales growth of 123% to 27,895 units. Sales of the A0 class vehicles reached 2,624 units in March and 5,636 units in the first quarter, up 48% and 81% year on year respectively. Strikingly, sales of pure electric A-class vehicles shot up 314% month on month to 10,428 units in March.
In terms of specific models, the best-selling pure electric passenger vehicle models are the BAIC BJEV EC Series, the JAC iEV, the BYD e5, the Chery EQ Series and the Benben. Among them, sales of the BAIC BJEV EC Series reached 7,818 units in March, skyrocketing over 400% from a year earlier. And its sales by Q1 totaled 19,808 units. The second best-selling model, the JAC iEV posted March sales of 5,031 units. The BYD e5's sales soared over 100% year on year to 3,798 units in March. However, its cumulative sales in the first three months totaled 4,398 units.
