In 2024, China's new energy vehicle market ushered in a milestone development, according to data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), the size of China's new energy vehicle market in 2024 exceeded 11 million, a year-on-year increase of 38.1%, this data marks that China's new energy vehicle industry has entered a new stage, profoundly reshaping the domestic automobile market pattern.
In terms of power type, plug-in hybrid and extended-range power models are an important driver for the market growth. The proportion of plug-in hybrid vehicles jumped from 20.5% in 2023 to 27.6%, a year-on-year increase of 85.7%; The proportion of extended-range power models also increased from 7.1% to 10.2%, an increase of 99.3%. In the field of plug-in hybrids, the sales of models under brands such as BYD and Wuling have grown rapidly, and a number of new models have also performed well. This is due to the continuous breakthrough in battery technology, the battery capacity and range of plug-in hybrid models have been greatly improved, but the cost has been continuously reduced, and the cost-effective advantage is extremely outstanding for consumers who buy a car for the first time and add a trade-in. Although the concentration of head brands in the extended-range power market has declined, many brands such as Leap and Deep Blue have shown strong growth. With the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeding 50%, a large number of users with obvious range anxiety will flow to hybrid models, injecting continuous growth momentum into the range extender and plug-in hybrid market, and the entry of new players in 2025 will make the competition more intense.
According to IDC, the EV market also maintained growth, with a year-on-year increase of 18.7%. In terms of price, the proportion of models under 300,000 yuan has increased, especially in the range of less than 100,000 yuan, from 22.9% in 2023 to 27.1%. This is due to the rapid development of fast charging technology, the proportion of pure electric vehicles that meet the 2C fast charging standard in new cars has increased significantly from 1.5% in 2023 to 7.9%, and the pure electric market with fast charging of 0.5C and above below 100,000 has also grown significantly. Fast charging technology has greatly improved the energy replenishment experience of pure electric vehicles, and lowered the threshold for traditional fuel vehicle users to switch to pure electric vehicles.
Figure: In 2024, the scale of China's new energy vehicle market will exceed 10 million, and its development will enter a new stage
In terms of price trends, the average selling price of new energy vehicles in the market has decreased, and all types of models have shifted to the low-price segment as a whole. On the one hand, this is due to the acceleration of new energy in entry-level models, and a large number of low-price new energy models have poured into the market; On the other hand, the competition in the new energy vehicle market is intensifying, and car companies are competing for market share through price strategies. In contrast, the average selling price of the gasoline vehicle market increased year-on-year, especially the consumer demand of the gasoline vehicle market shifted to the middle and high-end. This is because meeting stricter emission standards has increased the cost of gasoline vehicles, limiting profit margins, and the high demand for quality and experience from users in the mid-to-high-end market has also prompted car companies to adjust their product layout.
From the perspective of market competition, the attributes of automotive products are changing from simple travel tools to consumer goods, and intelligent cockpit and OTA technology play a key role in this. With the development of AI technology, human-computer interaction has ushered in huge opportunities, and car companies that take the lead in upgrading from "functional" interaction to "emotional" interaction will stand out in the fierce market competition. Traditional automakers have long been aware of this, and since 2018, they have launched in-depth cooperation with technology companies such as Qualcomm and Nvidia in an attempt to catch up with electric vehicle companies in the field of intelligence.
Looking ahead, China's new energy vehicle market is expected to continue to maintain rapid growth, driven by multiple policy support, technological innovation and consumption upgrading. However, it also faces challenges such as charging infrastructure construction and battery recycling. Only by properly solving these problems can we achieve the sustainable development of the new energy vehicle industry and occupy a leading position in the transformation of the global automotive industry.
