July Plug-In Hybrid Models Review: After 5 Years, Plug-In Hybrids Decline Again, AITO M8 Hits New High to Take the Crown

Market Overview: In July, there were significant changes in the domestic new energy market. On one hand, the penetration rate reached a new high of 54%. On the other hand, sales of plug-in hybrids slightly declined by 0.2% year-on-year, marking the first negative growth in this market since July 2020.

At the same time, the range-extended vehicle market also declined by 11.4% year-on-year, marking its second decrease this year following a drop in January.

Using June data of this year as a reference, the decline in these two sub-sectors is even more pronounced, at 16.1% and 14.9% respectively. The overall sales of plug-in hybrids and range-extended vehicles have both dropped, which inevitably means that the sales of some models within these two sub-sectors have decreased, and this is indeed the case.

Whether it is plug-in hybrid models such as the BYD Qin family, Song family, Changan Qiyuan Q07, and Chery Fengyun T9, or extended-range models like the Li Auto L6 and Li Auto L7, their sales have all declined to varying degrees.

Of course, there are also a few models whose sales are still increasing, such as the AITO M8, Geely Galaxy Star 8, Lynk & Co 900, and Voyah Dreamer, with the AITO M8 being the most prominent among them.

Although AITO M8 only increased by 379 units compared to 21,185 units in June, it surpassed the BYD Qin PLUS DM-i by 210 units and claimed the top spot in the July plug-in hybrid and range-extended vehicle market.

Since the start of mass deliveries on April 20th this year, the AITO M8 has exceeded 20,000 units for the second consecutive month. It must be admitted that the appeal of HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility is indeed very strong.

It is even more noteworthy that despite the AITO M8 leading the charge, the performance of the range-extended vehicle segment is concerning. Especially as one of the leaders, Li Auto, has not achieved "ideal" sales, with its L6, L7, L8, and L9 models all showing significant declines. After July, sales of the latter two models were both less than 4,000 units. This raises doubts about whether the range-extended vehicle market can continue to maintain positive growth this year.