- Premium EVs accounted for roughly 10% of all Chinese EV sales this year.
- In 2025, car manufacturers will likely focus on updating existing models.
- Just four months ago, premium EV maker Human Horizons collapsed.
For most of the past year, it’s seemed like every other week, a major Chinese car manufacturer has revealed a new and innovative premium EV. However, some analysts expect fewer all-new premium models to be launched in 2025 due to weakening demand across the local market.
China’s luxury EVs are usually priced over 300,000 yuan (about $41,000), with several different car manufacturers competing in this segment. These include Xpeng, Nio, Li Auto, Zeekr, and BYD. All of these brands produce compelling models, but the segment is small, and there’s limited potential for it to grow. The founder of CnEVPost, Phate Zhang, believes this will force companies to slow down their launches of new premium models.
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“I think automakers will slow down their launches of new premium models in 2025 and focus on upgrading their existing models,” he told the South China Morning Post. “This market segment is not easy to expand. Coupled with the overall slowdown in the EV market, sales of high-end EV models have faced considerable challenges this year.”
Vehicles in China’s premium EV segment accounted for roughly 10% of total EVs sold through the first 11 months of the year. While sales of these models have grown over recent years, this growth has started to slow, according to China Passenger Car Association data. Ongoing price wars are also making it difficult for new offerings to enter the market and prove competitive.
“Few of the companies have succeeded in entering the premium market, with most of the rest suffering from weak sales and huge investment losses,” Jiangxi New Energy Technology Institute researcher Zhang Xiang said. “This has set an alarm for the carmakers.”
Several local brands started to feel the pinch of slowing sales growth in 2024. Last August, Human Horizons filed for bankruptcy, having sold fewer than 8,000 of its premium EV models in 2023, while in December, Geely’s Jiyue EV brand was on the brink of collapse. While growth has slowed, China’s EV market is expected to swell considerably this year. In fact, sales of new-energy vehicles – which include BEVs, PHEVs, and FCEVs – may increase by 28% this year and hit 15.78 million sales.
