Even if Chinese consumers are moving away from gas-only automobiles, hybrids are still more popular than battery-only vehicles, according to full-year data.

In a filing on Wednesday, market leader BYD stated that it sold over 4.3 million passenger cars in 2024. Of those automobiles, about 2.5 million were hybrids, which is the opposite of 2023, when BYD sold somewhat less hybrids than battery-only cars.

According to analysis of statistics from the China Passenger Car Association, battery-only automaker Tesla is expected to sell over 600,000 cars in China for the second consecutive year. Elon Musk's automaker is anticipated to make its 2024 financial results public Thursday morning in the United States.

According to Joe McCabe, president and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions, "we see it sort of capping, but we still see growth in the Chinese market in terms of battery electric." He predicts that demand for automobiles with internal combustion engines, including hybrids, will continue to exist by 2031.

Li Auto, which is just behind Tesla, reported in a filing on Wednesday that it delivered a record 500,508 vehicles last year. Most of the company's vehicles have a gasoline tank to increase the driving range of the battery.

Leapmotor, Stellantis' Chinese partner that sells battery and hybrid vehicles, reported that it delivered close to 300,000 vehicles in 2024 and plans to supply 500,000 in the upcoming year.

Full-year deliveries were lower for Chinese electric car startups that have only sold battery-powered cars thus far. Zeekr is an electric vehicle manufacturer.

The lower-priced brands of Nio and Xpeng, which started deliveries in the second half of 2024, are included in the final total for the year.

Zeekr declared in August that it would introduce its first hybrid vehicle in 2025, while Xpeng unveiled its own hybrid range-extender device in November.

With smartphone company Xiaomi launching its SU7 electric sedan in March, the electric car brands faced more competition in the past year. By the end of December, Xiaomi claimed to have delivered over 135,000 of the cars and set a target of 300,000 in 2025. Zeekr has set a goal of 320,000 deliveries for 2025 after narrowly missing its reported target of 230,000 cars in 2024.