People aged 20 and 70 are all buying it. "Sales doubled in the first eight months." Why has this type of car become popular again?

"Last month, all the in - stock cars in our store were sold out. We prepared an additional batch this month, but some popular colors are also gone. If you place an order now, you'll have to wait for two to four weeks." Chen Shun (a pseudonym), a salesperson selling Geely Xingyuan cars in Chaoyang District, Beijing, told China News Service on the 14th.

Recently, China News Service visited some mainstream new - energy 4S stores/direct - sales stores in Chaoyang District and Tongzhou District, Beijing. In these stores, compared with other models, most A0 - class new - energy sedans have attracted more attention from consumers. At the Geely Automobile 4S store in Wufang Tianya, Chaoyang, Beijing, within half an hour before closing in the afternoon, there were still three groups of customers coming to look at cars.

The A0 - class new - energy sedan, also known as the small new - energy sedan, why has this type of product become popular again?

01 "There are so many customers that we can't register all the information"

Ms. Wu, who lives in Langfang, Hebei, decided to buy a small pure - electric sedan worth about 100,000 yuan during the "Golden September and Silver October" period. There is a fuel - powered car in her family, which is mostly used for holiday trips and occasionally for commuting.

"Two colleagues in our office bought pure - electric sedans this year. They drive to and from work every day and can charge the car at home at any time. They don't need to charge the car additionally on weekend trips. The usage cost is low, and the purchase cost is not high either. The highest on - the - road price is 100,000 yuan." Ms. Wu told China News Service on September 15th.

Ms. Wu's main purpose of buying a car is for commuting and trips. "After my colleague calculated the travel cost for me, I realized that it's quite expensive to drive a fuel - powered car to and from work. However, a fuel - powered car is still necessary. So, it's more cost - effective to buy this kind of car (small pure - electric sedan), which can be used for both short and medium - distance trips. There are also people in our community who have bought one."

A small pure - electric sedan of a certain brand Photo taken by China News Service

Chen Shun also has many customers with similar needs to Ms. Wu. He said, "When talking about car - buying needs, more than half of the customers say they'll use the car for commuting. 'There is a whole page of people (registered) who came to look at it (Xingyuan). There were too many people later, and we couldn't register them all. In the end, the information was incomplete.'"

The Geely Xingyuan mentioned by Chen Shun belongs to the small pure - electric sedan category, with an official guide price ranging from 68,800 yuan to 97,800 yuan. The car was launched in October 2024, and its monthly sales volume reached 46,000 units in August this year.

A similar situation also occurred at a BYD Ocean Network 4S store in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The salesperson at the store said that the BYD Seagull in the A0 class is the best - selling product in the store. "Even if the customers who come to the store don't buy the Seagull, they'll still ask us about this car after looking at their target models. This car has the highest cost - performance ratio."

A BYD Ocean Network 4S store in Tongzhou, Beijing Photo taken by China News Service

Data from the Passenger Car Association shows that as of July this year, the A0 - class new - energy sedan has become the sub - segment with the highest sales growth rate this year. The sales volume in the first seven months has doubled year - on - year; among them, the sales volume in the first seven months has reached 530,000 units, exceeding the annual sales volume in 2024.

"Judging from the data statistics of the Passenger Car Association, the A0 - class new - energy sedan has been the segment with the highest sales growth rate in the first eight months of this year, and it is expected to become the sub - market with the highest growth rate throughout the year." Cui Dongshu, the secretary - general of the Passenger Car Association, told China News Service.

In 2024, the sales volume of A0 - class new - energy sedans in the Chinese market was 509,800 units, a year - on - year increase of 5.2%. However, in 2022 and 2023, the sales volume of A0 - class new - energy sedans doubled year - on - year.

Specifically for products, in the A0 - class new - energy sedan segment, since the beginning of this year, the top 10 best - selling products are all pure - electric products. According to the data of the Passenger Car Association, the product with the highest sales volume in the first eight months is also the top - selling product in the entire passenger - car market.

Among them, the sales volume of some small pure - electric sedans that performed poorly at the beginning of the year has rebounded in the second half of the year. For example, the monthly sales volume of the BYD Dolphin has increased from about 5,000 units at the beginning of the year to 14,000 units in August. In the past three months, the sales volume of this model has remained stable above 12,000 units. For some models newly launched in the first half of this year, such as the GAC AION UT and the NIO Firefly, the sales volume has remained stable at around 5,000 units in the past two months.

In terms of price, the prices of the top 10 best - selling products are almost all around 100,000 yuan. For example, the Seagull is priced from 69,800 yuan to 85,800 yuan, the AION UT is priced from 69,800 yuan to 101,800 yuan, and the Firefly is priced from 119,800 yuan to 125,800 yuan (the rental - battery price is from 79,800 yuan to 85,800 yuan).

"When comparing from the perspectives of usage scenarios and usage costs, pure - electric products in the A0 - class new - energy sedan market have obvious advantages over plug - in hybrid products. So, small pure - electric sedans can dominate this segment." Xu Huxiong, a global partner at Roland Berger, analyzed to China News Service.

02 Why have small pure - electric sedans become popular again?

"At first, I couldn't tell the specific reason (for its good sales). I just thought it had a high cost - performance ratio. I watched as its (national monthly sales) soared to 10,000 units and then continued to rise. Now it's almost 50,000 units," Chen Shun said. It wasn't until more and more people came to him to buy cars that he saw reasons other than cost - performance.

"This type of car is very versatile. It can be used for daily commuting or as a family car. There is no specific target group. Young unmarried people use it for commuting to work, couples use it to send their children to school and for weekend trips, and middle - aged people can drive it for fishing... So, the customers I have are very diverse, ranging from those in their early 20s to those in their 60s who are retired. The oldest customer is over 70 years old," he introduced.

A salesperson of the NIO Firefly believes that more and more users are seeing the practicality of this type of product and are choosing to buy it. "Customers who come to buy the Firefly usually have a large car at home, but small sedans are more flexible. The other day, a NIO user came to our store and ordered a Firefly just to pick up and drop off their child at primary school. It's more convenient to park around the school."

Xu Huxiong also holds a similar view. He believes that the small pure - electric sedan is a relatively large sub - market, so the user profile has a relatively wide coverage.

Xu Huxiong told China News Service that previous research by Roland Berger has revealed a phenomenon: users in the small pure - electric sedan market are more likely to be influenced by user word - of - mouth compared with the industry average. In terms of products, they pay more attention to product applicability and cost - performance. Given the same budget, they will focus on the coverage of mainstream functions, followed by the leading position of mainstream functions and factors such as appearance.

Cui Dongshu believes that with the improvement of battery range and the upgrade of fast - charging technology, consumers' range anxiety about pure - electric models has decreased. Coupled with the continuous decline in battery prices, electric vehicles priced at 100,000 yuan or less have re - entered the market, lowering the threshold for car purchase.

On the demand side, Cui Dongshu said that the demand for a second car in Chinese families can be effectively released through policies such as trade - ins for small pure - electric sedans. "The growth of economy - class electric vehicles is sustainable. Only when economy - class electric vehicles are popularized can the car market truly see an increase in volume."

Judging from the pure - electric range marked on the official website, the current mainstream small pure - electric sedans have a range of 300 to 500 kilometers. Two years ago, most products in this range had a range of 200 to 400 kilometers.

From the perspective of product competitiveness, Xu Huxiong believes that the A - class (compact - class) sedan market has always been one of the largest passenger - car sub - markets in China. Former best - selling sedans in the fuel - car market, such as the Sylphy, are from this sub - market. From the actions of car - makers, the current small pure - electric sedans in the Chinese market are meeting the car - using needs of the original A - class market in an upgraded way.

"Although it's an A0 - class car, in terms of internal space and other dimensions, the current small pure - electric sedans are comparable to the original A - class fuel - powered sedans, with better cockpit and other functions and more affordable prices. Thus, they have successfully attracted customers from the largest A - class sub - market," Xu Huxiong further said.

Data from the Passenger Car Association shows that the sales growth rate of A - class new - energy sedans in the first seven months was 19.5%, lower than the industry's average growth rate of 29.5%.

In terms of vehicle functions, both the BYD Dolphin and the Seagull are equipped with BYD's Tian Shen Zhi Yan C, an assisted - driving function; the Firefly is equipped with wireless charging and a front trunk, and there are multiple storage spaces inside the car; models of the Geely Xingyuan above the mid - level configuration are equipped with seat - heating functions.

However, Xu Huxiong also said that the small pure - electric sedan market will face the threat of A+ - class models seizing market share through the "big - against - small" strategy in the next period. He mentioned that many new pure - electric models in the A - class and A+ - class will be launched in the next few years.

In his view, users in this sub - market will pay more attention to the economy of vehicle use throughout the lifecycle in the future. They will also pursue more comprehensive function coverage and partial product personalization. "Those who can form a competitive advantage in the above three aspects may gain more user favor," Xu Huxiong said.

Cui Dongshu holds a different view: "From the perspective of global market demand, everyone needs A0 - class cars, not A - class cars. Small pure - electric sedans meet the needs of global users and the needs of Chinese families for a second car, so there will still be huge growth potential."

This article is from the WeChat public account "China News Service" (ID: jwview), author: Gong Chenyuan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.