In a sign of the things to come in the shifting car parc, China continues to take a growing place as the country of origin for new vehicles.
Major Chinese brands BYD, Chery and GWM all recorded major growth in April despite FCAI figures new vehicle sales being down on 2024, with BYD’s Sealion 7 now reportedly the new top-selling EV.
Drive News has tabulated figures from the Electric Vehicle Council and FCAI figure to show the BYD Sealion 7 sold 743 new vehicles to displace the Tesla Y, the most popular EV since 2023 that plummeted to 280 new vehicles in April.
Pure EV numbers overall are down on 2024 and even hybrids were flatter in April sales.
The FCAI figures also show BYD sales have doubled for 2025 so far compared to last year, reaching 11,974 vehicles in 2025, increasing its market share from 1.5 to 3.5 per cent.
Other major Chinese brands include Chery, more than doubling sales to 8344 in 2025 so far, from 0.6 to 2.5 per cent of the market and GWM that has increased its slice from 3.4 to 4.3 per cent of the total new market.
This means China as a source, is now closing in on the second position in country of origin for vehicles. Thailand, where Fords are made, so far has supplied 77,782 vehicles but this has dropped 16.3 per cent since 2024.
China has now notched up 60,692 a slight decrease since last year but these FCAI figures do not incorporate Tesla which the FCAI figures do not count.
Japan remains the market leader with Toyota its biggest brand, selling 123,000 new vehicles in 2025. Korea is in fourth position.