People visit the booth of Chinese carmaker BYD during the China Motor Show (Tianjin) 2022 in north China's
Carmakers saw sales of new energy vehicles slow down in January, primarily because of the earlier-than-usual weeklong Spring Festival holiday, but executives and analysts are optimistic about the sector's expected rapid growth for the whole year.
Retail sales of passenger NEVs were expected to stand at 360,000 units last month, up 1.8 percent year-on-year but down 43.8 percent from December, said the China Passenger Car Association last week, based on surveys of carmakers and dealers.
Overall passenger car sales were estimated to see a steeper year-on-year decline of 34.6 percent, with deliveries falling to 1.36 million units, said the CPCA.
Almost all of the major electric startups suffered losses last month. Nio sold 8,506 cars in January, down 11.87 percent year-on-year and 46.22 percent from December.
"The Spring Festival this year fell in January, which means we had one less working week than usual," the New York-listed startup said in a statement.
Nio CEO William Li said that the first half of 2023, especially the first quarter, would be tough for carmakers, as some car buyers placed orders late last year to be eligible for subsidies that ended on the last day of 2022.
China initiated the subsidies in 2009 to foster the sector's growth. It began to phase out the financial stimuli from 2017 as the segment gradually learned to stand on its own.
But the startup is confident in its performance for the year 2023.CEO William Li said it will outsell Toyota's premium marque Lexus in China, which will require Nio to double its sales from 2022.
Other startups saw their January sales tumble as well. Hozon, which was the best-selling startup in 2022, delivered 6,016 units in January, down 45.35 percent year-on-year. Xpeng followed by selling 5,218 units, down 59.62 percent from the same month last year.
Xpeng, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, is going through a management reshuffle that started late last year. It has appointed veterans from Great Wall Motors and Geely as president and marketing chief respectively to help it to steer out of the downturn.
"Sales are something that concerns a carmaker's dignity," Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng said.
