Analysis of power battery equipment for the top 10 Chinese automakers in terms of sales in Q1 this year

Against the backdrop of fierce price wars, lower electricity prices than oil, the introduction of new battery technologies, intelligent iterations of entire vehicles and expansion of overseas markets, China's new energy vehicle sales increased again in the first quarter of this year, and many new energy vehicle companies delivered good results.

Among them, BYD's sales of new energy vehicles in the first quarter of this year reached 626,300 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.44%; Geely Auto's sales of new energy vehicles reached 144,100 units, a year-on-year increase of about 143%; new forces such as Wenjie and Ideal all sold more than 80,000 units in the same period. In addition, GAC Aion, Zeekr, Weilai, Nezha, Xiaopeng, Lantu, and Deep Blue also saw sales growth to varying degrees, setting a new record for the same period.

Top 10 Chinese New Energy Vehicle Sales Companies in the First Quarter of 2024

(Note: The data comes from the data disclosed by various automakers. Automakers that did not disclose data are not included in the statistics)

The rapid recovery of new energy vehicle production and sales, which continue to set new records, is expected to drive power batteries out of the trough and return to the main line of benign and healthy development. According to reports, market research data shows that in March this year, the production schedule of batteries and positive electrode materials has shown obvious signs of recovery, and the overall production schedule of lithium batteries in April is expected to increase by about 10% month-on-month.

At present, the sales of new energy vehicles have recovered rapidly. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the prices of power battery products have dropped significantly compared to the beginning of 2023, and the competitiveness of new energy vehicles compared to fuel vehicles has continued to improve; on the other hand, it is also due to the increase in overseas markets' acceptance of new energy vehicles, and exports have begun to increase. For example, BYD's exports of new energy vehicles in the first quarter of this year have been close to 100,000 vehicles.

The surge in sales of new energy vehicles will also drive the rapid growth of power battery installations. It is worth noting that the growth of installations of various battery companies will depend on whether the supporting car companies have first-tier hot-selling models. I believe this will also be the focus of competition among battery companies in the future.

In addition, in 2023, many car companies began to learn from BYD, Ideal, and Wenjie's model and launched extended-range and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) to compete with the fuel vehicle market. Influenced by this, it is expected that many battery companies will continue to focus on the PHEV battery field this year.

Battery China and the Power Battery Application Branch have sorted out the power battery supporting information of domestic automakers with the highest sales of new energy vehicles in the first quarter of 2024 for reference:

BYD: Fudi battery supporting

In terms of sales, BYD's leading position is unshakable. In March this year, its monthly sales reached 302,500 vehicles (including overseas), a year-on-year increase of 46.06%; its sales in the first quarter reached 626,300 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 13.44%.

From the perspective of product structure, from January to March, BYD's sales of pure electric passenger cars reached 264,600 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.40%; while sales of plug-in hybrid passenger cars reached 283,300 units, a year-on-year increase of 14.48%.

In addition to being the leading domestic new energy vehicle company, BYD has also achieved outstanding performance in overseas markets. In March this year, BYD's overseas new energy passenger car sales totaled 38,434 units, a record high. Since BYD announced data in July 2022, its overseas new energy passenger car sales have exceeded 390,000 units.

In terms of power battery matching, BYD relies on a vertical supply chain system, and its power batteries are independently matched by its subsidiary Fudi Battery. According to the data of the Power Battery Application Branch, the installed capacity of Fudi power batteries in January and February this year was about 9.33GWh, mainly matched by BYD.

Recently, at the 2023 financial report investor communication meeting, BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu revealed that the company's new generation of blade battery system is expected to be released in August this year. The battery energy density will reach 190Wh/kg, which can help pure electric vehicles to exceed 1,000km of range.

Geely Auto: CATL, Guoxuan High-tech, Honeycomb Energy, Sunwoda, and Jidian New Energy provide battery support

Geely Auto is also continuing to invest in the new energy field, and has currently formed several brands with different market positioning, including Geely Galaxy, Geometry, Lynk & Co, Panda mini and Zeekr.

In March this year, Geely's new energy vehicle sales were 44,791 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 65%; the cumulative sales from January to March were 144,125 units, a year-on-year increase of about 143%. It is worth mentioning that Zeekr, a relatively high-end brand, sold 33,059 units from January to March, a year-on-year increase of 117%.

In terms of battery support, the main battery supplier for Geely Panda mini is Guoxuan High-tech; the main battery suppliers for Lynk & Co are Honeycomb Energy and CATL; Geely Galaxy is provided with batteries by CATL, Honeycomb Energy, Xinwanda and Jidian New Energy; Geometry is provided with batteries by Xinwanda, CATL, Honeycomb Energy and others; smart is provided with batteries by Xinwanda and Sinotruk; Zeekr is provided with batteries by CATL, Xinwanda and Jidian New Energy and others.

It is worth noting that Jidian New Energy is a company that develops and produces batteries independently by Geely Auto.

Changan Automobile: CATL, Sinotruk, Guoxuan High-tech, and EVE Energy provide battery products

In the first quarter of this year, Changan Automobile's sales of new energy vehicles reached 128,800 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 52%. In terms of brands, Changan Qiyuan sold 15,228 units in March, Deep Blue Auto sold 13,048 units, and Avita sold 5,016 units.

From the perspective of battery suppliers, Changan Qiyuan is mainly supplied with batteries by CATL, CATL and EVE Energy; Changan LUMIN is mainly supplied with batteries by CATL, Guoxuan High-tech and CATL; Deep Blue Automobile is mainly supplied with batteries by CATL and CATL; Avita's supporting batteries are exclusively supplied by CATL.

AITO asks the world: CATL provides battery support

In March this year, AITO's sales volume reached 31,727 units, a month-on-month increase of 50%; in the first quarter of this year, AITO's sales volume of all new vehicles reached 85,842 units.

Thanks to Huawei's support and technological upgrades, the sales of the new AITO M7 model have skyrocketed.

As of now, AITO batteries are still exclusively supplied by CATL.

Ideal Auto: CATL, Sunwoda, and SVOLT provide battery support

In March this year, Ideal Auto sold 28,984 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 39.2%. In the first quarter of this year, the total sales volume reached 80,400 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 52.9%. Ideal Auto also became the first Chinese new power car company to reach the milestone of cumulative delivery of 700,000 vehicles.

In terms of power battery suppliers, the power batteries used in Ideal Auto are currently mainly provided by CATL. In addition, in 2023, Honeycomb Energy, Xinwangda, etc. also entered the supply chain of Ideal Auto and began to supply batteries for its related models.

GAC Aion: Zhongxin Aviation, CATL, Farasis Energy, and EVE Energy provide battery support

In the first quarter of this year, GAC Aion sold 74,153 new energy vehicles, all of which were pure electric vehicles. Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC Aion, revealed that the company's sales target for 2024 is 700,000 vehicles. It is reported that GAC Aion achieved sales of 480,000 vehicles in 2023.

In terms of power battery support, GAC Aion currently has five battery suppliers, including China New Energy, CATL, Farasis Energy, EVE Energy, and Juwan Technology.

It is worth noting that the Inpai battery invested by GAC Aion was also completed and put into production in December 2023, and the initial phase can achieve a production capacity of 6GWh.

Great Wall Motors: Honeycomb Energy, CATL, and Guoxuan High-tech provide battery support

From January to March this year, Great Wall Motors sold 59,182 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 112.82%. Similar to BYD, Geely and others, Great Wall Motors' new energy vehicles adopt the "pure electric + plug-in hybrid" approach.

Great Wall Motors currently has three major power battery suppliers, namely Honeycomb Energy, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. and Guoxuan High-tech Co., Ltd. Among them, Guoxuan High-tech and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. mainly supply Great Wall Motors' Ora and Haval brand related models; Honeycomb Energy supplies Great Wall Motors' Ora and Tank series models.

· Leapmotor: Guoxuan High-tech, Honeycomb Energy, Ruipu Lanjun, Zhongxinhang, and Zhengli New Energy provide battery support

Leapmotor sold 33,410 vehicles in the first quarter, including 14,567 vehicles in March alone, a year-on-year increase of more than 136%.

Currently, the main models of Leapmotor include Leapmotor C11, Leapmotor T03, Leapmotor C01, etc. Among them, the battery suppliers of Leapmotor C11 are mainly Honeycomb Energy, China New Aviation and Guoxuan High-tech; the battery suppliers of Leapmotor T03 are mainly Guoxuan High-tech, Ruipu Lanjun and Honeycomb Energy; the battery suppliers of Leapmotor C01 are Zhengli New Energy, Guoxuan High-tech, China New Aviation, etc.