The Chinese passenger car market noted another positive month with a 10% year-over-year increase in sales in September.

Meanwhile, the plug-in electric car segment is booming, reaching a new record level and taking more than a third of the total market.

According to EV Volumes’ data, shared by Jose Pontes, some 636,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in September, which is 78% more than a year ago and about 35% of the total volume.

This amazing record is a combination of record sales of all-electric cars (475,000) and record sales of plug-in electric cars (161,000). The PHEVs are also expanding faster than anything else in the recent month (up 148% year-over-year).

Globally, China is responsible for more than half of all plug-in electric car sales.

Results for the month:

BEVs: about 475,000 (up 62%) and 26% share
PHEVs: about 161,000 (up 148%) and 9% share
Total: 636,223 (up 78%) and 35% share

So far this year, over 4 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China – that’s more than in the entire year 2021.

BEVs: about *3.07 million and 22% share
PHEVs: about *0.98 million and 7% share
Total: 4,050,537 and 29% share
* estimated from the market share

For reference, in 2021, the total plug-in electric car registrations increased by about 153% year-over-year to over 3.2 million (from 1.27 million in 2020).

According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)’s updated forecast, some 6 million passenger plug-in electric cars might be sold in China in 2022.

Top 10 for the month:

Tesla Model Y: 46,694
BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV): 45,934
Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 37,416
BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): 36,058
BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): 31,497
Tesla Model 3: 30,919
BYD Dolphin: 24,956
BYD Yuan Plus BEV: 23,069
BYD Tang (BEV + PHEV): 15,058
GAC Aion S: 13,522
* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.

Year-to-date, the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV still remains the market leader in terms of volume, but its advantage over the BYD Song (BEV + PHEV) decreased again.

The Tesla Model Y shortened the distance to the BYD Qin family, but only time will tell whether it will be able to fight for the podium in 2022.

Top 10 year-to-date:

Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 316,238
BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV): 285,288
BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): 234,237
Tesla Model Y: 219,405
BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): 179,879
BYD Dolphin: 127,432
BYD Yuan Plus BEV: 115,160
Tesla Model 3: 99,944
BYD Tang (BEV + PHEV): 92,547
AC Aion Y: 81,201