This week’s IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich, where the electric future of mobility will once again take centre stage, will include some of the world’s top automakers as exhibitors.
BYD and Tesla Lead the World EV Sales: All You Need to Know
While German legacy automakers like Volkswagen, Mercedes, and BMW will make an impression on their home turf, Statista reports that they have lagged in the transition to electric vehicles recently because they understandably continue to work on global combustion engines as well. In contrast, smaller, more niche firms like Tesla and Chinese market leader BYD have jumped ahead.
BYD alone sold about 1.2 million plug-in electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) in the first half of 2023, which is about twice as much as BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes combined. The firm that recently overtook Volkswagen as the top-selling car brand in China now has Europe in its sights, which will only make matters worse for Germany’s automotive heavyweights (and other European carmakers). BYD demonstrated its commitment to the sector it just entered by introducing six models for the European market on Monday in Munich. The business outsold its target for 2022 by selling 92,469 EVs abroad between January and July.
However, it remains to be seen how European consumers would react to the Chinese newcomer given that there is still some negative connotation associated with Chinese-made automobiles, particularly in Germany, which takes great pleasure in its automotive excellence. Based on projections from CleanTechnica, the following graph reveals that BYD and Tesla have a sizable lead in the worldwide EV industry, where other Chinese companies like GAC Aion, SGMW, and Li Auto are also among the biggest participants because of their sizable domestic market.
