So far this year, global electric vehicle sales have risen by nearly 30% from a year earlier. China's BYD and Geely Group overtook U.S. company Tesla to take the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in market share, while Hyundai Motor Group ranked seventh.
According to market research firm SNE Research on the 14th, 12,837,000 electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids and commercial vehicles) were registered worldwide from January to August this year, up 27.7% from the same period last year. China's BYD sold 2,556,000 units, up 14.1%, taking the top market share at 19.9%.
Geely Group came in second after BYD. Geely Group sold 1,315,000 units, up 67.8%, and recorded a 10.2% share. Tesla ranked third with a 7.7% share, as sales fell 10.9% to 985,000 units.
BYD is being credited with flexibly responding to tariff and subsidies through new plant construction and expansions in Europe and Southeast Asia, while Tesla continues to struggle as sales of its mainstay Model Y and Model 3 decline. In particular, Tesla's slump in the European market is deepening.
During the same period, Hyundai Motor Group's electric vehicle sales rose 12.9% to 416,000 units, ranking seventh with a 3.2% share. Among pure electric models, the Ioniq 5 and EV3 led performance, and small and market-specific models such as the Casper (Inster) EV, EV5, and Creta Electric are receiving positive reviews, according to the analysis.
By region, China accounted for 63% of the global market, more than half. EV sales in China rose 29% to 8,094,000 units. Europe rose 32.0% to 2,561,000 units, with a market share of about 20%. North America increased 2.9% to 1,209,000 units, with a 9.4% share.
An SNE Research official said, "This year, the global electric vehicle market is maintaining growth, but the gap among regions is widening," and added, "Europe and emerging Asian countries continued to recover on the back of new models across various price ranges and deployment policies, but North America is showing a slowdown in growth momentum due to policy shifts and strategic recalibration."