BYD, China's leading new energy vehicle enterprise, triggered the first shot of the price war for 2024 after the Spring Festival, ThePaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

On Feb 19, the auto maker launched the latest versions of its two plug-in hybrid models, Qin PLUS DM-i and Destroyer 05, with a starting price of 79,800 yuan ($11,088), 20,000 yuan cheaper than the last versions.

Thanks to the scale effect and the advantages of global industrial chain, the prices of BYD's PHEV models can be lower than that of fuel vehicles of the same level, said Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD's branding and public relations department.

Following BYD, SAIC-GM-Wuling priced down one version of the Wuling Starlight PHEV models from 105,800 yuan to 99,800 yuan.

Chang'an Auto cut the prices of two models Qiyuan Q05 and Qiyuan A05 to 73,900 yuan. Hozon Auto reduced the price of Neta X to 99,800 yuan.

Many industry insiders said that PHEV will usher in a sales explosion in 2024. In January, the market share of PHEVs and extended-range models saw robust growth.

Data from China Passenger Car Association showed that pure electric vehicles accounted for 59 percent of new energy vehicle sales in January, and over the same period last year, this figure was as high as 70 percent; PHEV accounted for 28 percent and extended-range models accounted for 13 percent, compared with 24 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in the same period last year.

PHEV models cut away not only the cake of pure electric models, but also the market share of traditional fuel vehicles. Previously, the main market segment for PHEVs was the mid-range car market. According to the statistics of the CPCA, at present, the core main models of passenger cars in the country are concentrated at the price range of 50,000 to 150,000 yuan, in which fuel vehicles accounted for the highest share.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, said that the increase of PHEV models is mainly in the low-price range. In the wake of the maturity of home-grown plug-in technology, PHEVs have obtained a larger share in the low-price market.

According to the data of the CPCA, in 2023, the share of PHEVs in the 50,000-100,000 yuan market is 0.6 percent; in January 2024, the share rose to 2.4 percent.