Have We Reached Peak BYD? (and Peak PHEV?) — July 2025 China EV Sales Report – CleanTechnica

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BEVs represented over a third of the total Chinese car market in July.

July saw the continuation of the never ending growth of the Chinese EV market, with plugins scoring close to a million sales in July (in a 1.8-million-unit overall market, up 6% YoY).

But this time there are some nuances. Digging deeper into the numbers, BEVs continued to grow, going up by 26% to over 607,000 units, or 34% of overall sales, while PHEVs were actually DOWN, by 10% YoY (to 20% share). Plugins therefore achieved 54% market share.

This is the PHEV’s first YoY drop in over five years!

Have we reached a turning point in PHEV adoption? To be continued…

This pulls the year-to-date (YTD) tally to over 6.4 million units. So, we should see plugins end the year well above 10 million units — in China alone….

This good result in July pulled the 2025 share to 51%. BEVs were also up, to 32%. Expect to see plugins continue to grow its share in the following months.

This means that most new cars sold in China this year have a plug!

(Could China surpass 55% plugin vehicle share by year end?)

In the overall ranking, in July, fully fossil-fueled models had just two representatives in the top 10. The best placed was the Nissan Sylphy in 6th, with the compact sedan actually growing by 22% YoY. Nissan had quite a positive month, so there is hope for the Japanese carmaker in China, but more on that later.

With the other ICE model (VW Lavida) closing the top 10, I believe it will be only a matter of time before we have just one ICE representative in the table. But it seems that getting rid of the Nissan sedan won’t be easy….

Looking at the best sellers in several size categories, all but the C segment (compact cars) have plugins leading the way. In fact, the C segment continues a 100% ICE (internal combustion engine) podium affair, something that is now the norm.

Looking at the bright side of this, this means that models like the new Leapmotor B01 will have plenty of room to grow….

In all other categories, ICE models were either absent or the minority. This is a recurring theme, as it seems that the C segment is the hardest of all to convert into EVs.

Looking at individual models, the biggest surprise was the 3rd spot of the Geely Boyue compact crossover. This means that even the ICE full size niche is being taken over by local brands.

Another topic to highlight is another runner-up spot for the recently introduced AITO M8 in the full size category. (Enjoy it while you can, AITO, as the Xiaomi YU7 is just a few months away from scoring a 1st and 2nd place win. The phone maker is taking over this category….)

Here’s more info and commentary on July’s top selling electric models:

#1 — Geely Geome Xingyuan

Geely has cracked the code. The Xingyuan allowed the make to beat BYD, as well as the rest of the competition. This July, the small hatchback returned to a best seller streak in China, managing once again to continue in record mode (for the seventh month in a row!) thanks to a best ever score of 44,274 units. Besides the killer price, all the support that comes from a leading OEM like Geely doesn’t hurt, as well as a rounded, sensible design — somewhere between a Wuling Bingo and a Smart #3. Starting with an 80,000 CNY (+/-$11,000) price, the buyer gets a 30 kWh LFP battery from CATL, which is nothing to write home about until you realize that its price places it closer to the BYD Seagull (70,000 CNY for the 30 kWh version) than the BYD Dolphin (100,000 CNY). Exports? Surely that must be on the cards. But first Geely will need to finish the production ramp-up in order to satisfy its own internal market.

#2 — BYD Qin Plus (BEV+PHEV)

The old dog once again joined the top 5 in July, thanks to 31,237 registrations, allowing it to even win a silver medal. That’s despite being down by a significant 21% YoY. That volume still meant that it was the best selling sedan in China, all powertrains counted. The 7-year-old body might be showing some wrinkles, but the low prices still provide significant demand for the midsize sedan. The question is — for how long? To make matters worse, it doesn’t look like its offspring are able to fill the gaps that the Qin Plus is leaving (in July, the #6 Qin L was down 25% YoY and the #8 Seal 06 was up by just 10%).

#3 — Tesla Model Y 

Last year’s silver medalist had an okay month in July, dropping just 15% YoY to 30,766 deliveries, and still allowing it a podium position. With the longer, 6-seat “L” version just landing, and the decontented, Sparta-approved, “300” version said to be unveiling by the end of the year, Tesla is trying to stop the sales bleed. Will it be able to go back to the good old days? Unless Elon has a trick up his sleeve, I very much doubt it, especially with new competition like the Xiaomi YU7 and the Xpeng G7 racking up significant pre-orders. The former got hundreds of thousands of locked-in orders within hours. Those orders have to come from somewhere, and with the market already at 50% share, it won’t be just from ICE models…. Yep, Tesla, but also BYD, will suffer.

#4 — BYD Song (BEV+PHEV)

BYD’s midsize SUV had a bad month, scoring just 29,767 registrations, which was a steep 39% drop YoY. It seems the veteran model (six years is an eternity in China) is close to its expiration date in its domestic automotive market. Right now, the 2025 best seller title is in danger of changing hands, preventing the Song from winning a 4th best seller title in a row. A competitive price can only get you so far. With an increasingly competitive market, and its successor, the #15 BYD Song L, failing to impress, BYD has both of its bread and butter models (Song & Qin Plus) on the descending curve. Then there’s the added problem that their successors aren’t yet filling the voids left by the two veteran models. The Peak BYD moment could be partly explained by this…. Succession crisis.

#5 — Wuling HongGuang Mini EV

The tiny EV is taking full profit from its generation change, which happened late last year. It is now back among the top sellers, and in July it collected 27,337 registrations. Thanks to a more rounded design, which kind of reminds me of the face of a Panda, and upgraded specs and interiors, SAIC’s smallest hatchback has lost its barebones feel. It now looks more car-like. Wuling even offers a five-door version! Despite all of this, the price hasn’t increased that much, with SAIC’s star model starting at $5,500.

Looking at the rest of the best sellers table, the highlights is the new AITO M8 full size SUV. In its 4th month on the market, it was 10th in July, with a record 21,564 sales.

Elsewhere, the Changan Lumin had a good month, rising to #13 thanks to 13,186 sales, all while the Geely Galaxy E5 took profit from its recent refresh to return to the table in #20.

Outside the top 20, we had a few recently introduced models ramping up production.

All eyes are of course focussed on the production ramp-up of the Xiaomi YU7, which registered 6,042 sales in its first full month. Will it reach 10,000 units in August? And a top 20 position by September? Anything less would be a disappointment….

Elsewhere, we should highlight a rare bright spot for foreign brands, with the ramp-up of the Nissan N7 midsize sedan scoring a significant 6,455 registrations in only its 4th month on the market. This is a good sign for Nissan’s fortunes in China, even if the model is based on a Dongfeng platform. This could be one path for the future of foreign OEMs in China — using local platforms to develop their new EVs, and at the same time learning and closing the gap they have compared to the local OEMs.

A surprising performance was the 8,576 sales of the new Leapmotor B01, in only its second month on the market. With an attractive design — including an impressive 0.197 Cd drag coefficient, competitive specs, and an unbeatable price (less than $15,000) — this Model 3-sized sedan has a bright future ahead, and it would provide Leapmotor another great addition to its European lineup. Imagine this — a Tesla Model 3 kind of car, for some 30,000 euros…. I know of a few markets in Europe (Spain comes to mind), where this would sell like hotcakes.

The 20 Best Selling Electric Vehicles in China — January–July 2024

Looking at the 2025 ranking, there was plenty to talk about at the top. The #2 Geely Xingyuan recovered significant ground (15,000 units) on leader BYD Song, with the BYD SUV now having an advantage of just some 18,000 units over Geely’s hatchback.

With contrasting trends between the two models — the Geely EV is breaking records on a monthly basis, while the BYD is posting double-digit drops — we could see the small hatchback take the lead in China around September.

If the Xingyuan wins the title this year, it will be a first for the Chinese conglomerate.

Segment-wise, this would also be a significant change. After two years of podiums made up entirely of midsize models, 2025 could be the year that small cars regain protagonism on the podium.

The Tesla Model Y took profit from July’s poor showing from the BYD Seagull (it was only 9th in July) and surpassed it, rejoining the podium.

The tiny Wuling Mini EV also surpassed the BYD Seagull, with four models from four different brands now in the top four positions!

Below the top positions, the BYD Seal 06 surpassed the Li L6, another model underperforming in July, and climbed to 9th.

The Xpeng Mona M03 jumped two positions, to #11, surpassing the Tesla Model 3 on the way, which ended July at #12. This is the best the US sedan can currently aspire to in China, and it would already be good news if it managed to end the year in that position.

Profiting from the BYD Hand being in sunset mode, the Changan Lumin and BYD Yuan Up were up one position each, to #17 and #18, respectively. The #20 Geely Starship 7 is also in the slow lane.

Looking at the overall manufacturer ranking (not just electrics), it seems BYD has found the demand ceiling in its domestic market. In July, it saw its sales drop by a significant 17% YoY.

It is still too early to say that There’s something rotten in the Kingdom of BYD, but one thing is for sure — at home, BYD isn’t as irresistible as it once was.

Having grown 13% in H1 2025, compared to 18% in the first half of 2024, this could be the warning sign that BYD has export markets as its only significant engine of growth at the moment.

On the other hand, #2 Geely is far from these kinds of issues, having seen its sales jump 105% this year and its current #2 spot a significant improvement over the #4 position it had a year ago. This is while most foreign representatives are either stagnating or seeing sales drop. Most, but not all — Nissan jumped to 8th thanks to enviable 28% growth YoY, being the only foreign brand in the top 15 to post a positive month.

Below Nissan, we have the other highlight of the month, with fast-growing Leapmotor joining the top 10 for the first time, in #9. That’s a 106% jump YoY to over 45,000 units. The startup is currently at the top of its game, and now that it has become profitable, the Valley of Death is behind the nine-year old startup. A top 5 position seems not only possible, but likely, now.

But Leapmotor’s startup leadership could be short-lived, because there are not one but two unstoppable trains coming from behind Leapmotor. One is called Xiaomi (#19 in July, up 132% YoY), while the other is Xpeng (#17, +203% YoY). Which one of them will be the best selling EV startup in 2025? Please place your bets.

On the other hand, there are foreign brands in deep trouble. BMW and Audi were kicked out of the top 10 in July, but that’s not as bad as Mercedes, which saw its sales crater 46%, ending the month in … #21.

But there are local teams suffering too, and possibly the most surprising is Li Auto, which saw its sales drop a significant 40% in July, ending the month at #18. With a PHEV-heavy lineup, the startup company is suffering from the country’s apparent shift towards BEVs. Could this be more proof that we have reached Peak PHEV?

Looking at the auto brand ranking for plugin vehicles, there isn’t much news. BYD (26%, down from 26.2%) remains stable in its leadership position.

Same story with Geely (10.2%), with the brand standing firm in the runner-up position.

Wuling (5%) stayed in the 3rd spot, gaining some distance over Tesla, which lost share (4.7% now vs. 4.8% in June).

This means that, for the first time since 2019, Tesla can’t reach the podium of the Chinese EV manufacturer table. Will this standing be replicated until the end of the year?

Elsewhere, a slow Li Auto (3.6%, down 0.1% in July) was surpassed by a rising Leapmotor (3.8%, up from 3.7% in June), which joined the top 5 in July.

Auto Groups Selling the Most Electric Vehicles in China

Looking at OEMs/automotive groups/alliances, BYD is comfortably leading, with 29.2% share of the market.

#2 Geely is a distant runner-up, with 12.5% share, but with #3 Changan having just 6.6% share, Geely is safe in the runner-up position.

As for #4 SAIC, it lost share (5.7%, down 0.1%), with Wuling alone not being enough to sustain the Shanghai OEM’s share.

Tesla (4.7%, down 0.1% in July) remained in 5th, but Tesla’s 2024 3rd spot in the OEM ranking seems almost impossible to achieve, and it could even be the case that there will be no Tesla on any podium — models, brands, or OEMs — for the first time since 2019….

Fortunately for the US brand, #6 Chery (4.2%) is still too far to become a real threat to their 5th position….