In January this year, the global electric vehicle market continued to maintain a rapid growth trend, with sales soaring 87% year-on-year to 603,000 units, accounting for 10% of the global automotive market. Among them, the Chinese market is the main driver of global electric vehicle sales growth, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total global electric vehicle sales.
Global Top 20 Electric Vehicles List: BYD Beats Tesla Model 3 with Two Cars
Two years ago, there were only 2 Chinese electric vehicles on the global top 20 sales list, 9 of which were 1 year ago, and now it has surged to 17. The other three foreign electric vehicles on the list are the Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3 and Volkswagen ID.4, and a large part of the production of these three cars is also produced in China.
When it comes to Tesla, there's good news and bad news. On the one hand, the Model Y started the race with first place, achieving its best ever in the first month of each quarter. In terms of global sales, the car has won the electric crossover sales competition for 12 consecutive months. The Model 3, on the other hand, made a dismal start to the year, dropping to No. 5, its lowest ranking since April 2021, further highlighting the flattening of the car's growth rate.
Wuling Hongguang MINIEV is still ranked No. 2, but its sales have begun to fall sharply, down 27% from the same period last year, and it seems that this small electric vehicle has begun to be threatened by some competitive models (such as Chery QQ Ice Cream in The 10th). In the third month of listing, Chery QQ ice cream monthly sales have approached more than 10,000, and SAIC now seems to have to share its market share in the field of urban small electric vehicles.
BYD Qin Plus PHEV beats The Tesla Model 3 to third place with record sales of 18,449 units, and BYD Song PHEV also leads the Model 3 with record sales of 16,415 units. In fact, in the top 20 of the list, 7 BYD models are on the list, of which 4 cars have reached record sales, in addition to the two mentioned above, there are ALSO BYD Dolphin and BYD Tang PHEV, both of which reached 10,602 and 8,853 units, respectively.
Another model with record sales is the 20th-ranked GAC Aion Y, which sold 6,415 units last month and is expected to be a regular on the list in the future. In addition to the top 20, it is worth mentioning the Zero-Run T03, which has reached sales of 6,007 units.
January Global Top 20 Electric Vehicle Brands: BYD won the championship with an overwhelming advantage
In January, BYD continued its momentum, winning the title of the world's best-selling electric vehicle brand again, thanks to the huge success of its long-expanding product line, which reached a record level of nearly 93,000 units last month.
Tesla was squeezed into second place, but overall, it was a good month for Tesla, setting a sales record for January. Considering that Tesla typically works in the final month of a quarter, BYD's lead in January (42,000 units) is not significant. In 2022, there will be an interesting competition between Tesla and BYD, on the one hand, Tesla's Berlin plant and Texas plant will start production, on the other hand, 2022 will be the year that BYD will start exporting a large number of electric vehicles.
But in last month's rankings, the most striking point was that Chinese automakers dominated the top 20, with 11 Chinese car brands in the top 20, three of which achieved record results in January, namely Chery in 8th place (mainly thanks to QQ Ice Cream), Changan at no. 13 and United Inc. at No. 19. With the success of Nezha V, Hezhong is preparing to launch a stylish mid-size sedan - Nezha S.
When it comes to China's electric vehicle start-ups, 3 have entered the top 20, namely Xiaopeng, Ideal and United. The companies appear to have passed the initial survival test and are now expanding their product portfolio and production.
Outside of the top 20, Geely deserves a note, setting a new record with sales of 10,751 vehicles, and the brand is expected to soon enter the top 20 list and become a regular customer.
From the perspective of the automotive group, BYD is far ahead with a market share of 15.5%, SAIC Motor (SAIC + SAIC-GM-Wuling) ranks second with 8.8%, and Tesla and Volkswagen group are tied for third with 8.5% market share. Geely Volvo ranks Fifth with a market share of 6.2%.
It should not be surprising if Geely's future EV market share catches up with the top 4, as Geely not only has a domestic market that can grow, but also because of Volvo's existing global dealer infrastructure, Geely's export brands (such as Lynk & Co and Extreme Krypton) will be more likely to succeed in overseas markets than other local brands, as markets such as the Netherlands, Belgium and France have demonstrated.