China’s shipments of new-energy passenger vehicles to dealerships climbed 96% to 6.5 million in 2022, in line with the 6.49 million forecast by the Passenger Car Association last week. 

Meanwhile, nationwide retail sales of NEVs, which include pure electric cars and hybrids, jumped 90% to 5.67 million, according to figures released by the PCA on Tuesday. They rose 6.5% in December from November to 640,000 units

“Overall production and sales of new-energy vehicles were relatively smooth and strong,” PCA Secretary General Cui Dongshu said at a briefing, while noting that rates of growth slowed. 

BYD Co., which is backed by Warren Buffett, accounted for almost 30% of China’s NEV sales in 2022, selling 1.86 million, triple the previous year’s number. SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. and Tesla Inc. kept their positions as the other two top-sellers 

There was a sharp monthly drop in deliveries for Elon Musk’s Tesla in December, when production in Shanghai was suspended for a time due to factory upgrades. The Texas-based electric-vehicle maker shipped 55,796 China-made cars last month, the PCA said, confirming preliminary figures released on Jan. 5. Of those, 41,926 went to the local market and 13,870 were exported. Telsa shipped over 100,000 EVs from its Shanghai factory in November, a record. 

For the year as a whole, when Tesla offered incentives and price cuts to Chinese buyers, the company delivered about 440,000 cars to local customers. It has already announced more price cuts this year, sparking protests from some owners who missed out. 

Overall passenger vehicle retail sales in China increased 2.4% from a year earlier to 2.19 million in December, the PCA said, taking the 2022 total to 20.8 million vehicles, up 1.6% from 2021.

Deliveries of made-in-China NEVs to dealerships could reach 8.5 million in 2023, while sales of passenger cars — excluding minivans — in the country are expected to reach 23.5 million, according to the PCA.