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Global EV Sales up 61% in Q2 2022; BYD Leads Market

  • Global passenger electric vehicle (EV) sales* reached 2.18 million units in Q2 2022.
  • BYD Auto overtook Tesla to become the top-selling EV brand globally.
  • The top 10 EV models accounted for more than 30% of global EV sales in Q2 2022.

New Delhi, London, San Diego, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul – August 29, 2022

Global passenger electric vehicle* (EV) sales grew 61% YoY to reach 2.18 million units in Q2 2022, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Global Passenger Electric Vehicle Model Sales Tracker. In total EV sales, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for almost 72% and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) for the rest. China remained the market leader in EV sales, followed by Europe and the US. China’s EV sales increased by almost 92% YoY in Q2 2022 to reach 1.24 million units from just 0.64 million units in Q2 2021.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Analyst Soumen Mandal said, “As the global semiconductor shortage has eased a bit, automakers are able to cater to the increasing demand for EVs. Moreover, EV sales would have been higher if China had not experienced fresh COVID-19 outbreaks during March. Stringent lockdowns in and around major provinces halted the production ramp-up during April, which resulted in China’s passenger vehicle market recording its biggest drop since the COVID-19-hit March 2020. The situation improved only after lockdowns were lifted during the latter half of May. The second half of 2022 is expected to deliver better results, but economic downturns, energy crisis, supply chain bottlenecks and rising geopolitical tensions may hinder the growth of China’s automotive market, especially EVs.”

Market Summary

BYD Auto: For the first time, BYD Auto became the top-selling EV brand, dethroning Tesla. During Q2 2022, BYD Auto shipped more than 354,000 EV units, an increase of 266% YoY. The company officially stopped production and sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in March 2022 and has been focusing on the development of BEVs and PHEVs. More than 60% of BYD’s sales during the quarter came from its top three models – BYD Song, BYD Han and BYD Qin. The company is slowly penetrating the European market. It has already begun operations in Norway and is looking to start business in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Tesla: Tesla’s global sales during Q2 2022 grew 27% YoY to over 254,000 units, falling short of expectations. Although business in the US increased, its China business was affected by COIVD-19 shutdowns. Tesla sold just 98,000 cars in China during Q2 2022. Cumulative sales in China during April and May fell by 49% YoY. This was the lowest for the automaker since the COVID-19-hit 2020. But its sales during June improved by almost 115% YoY. Despite COVID-19 clouding Tesla’s Q2 sales, it remained the global leader in the BEV segment.

Wuling: The joint venture between SAIC, GM and Wuling has proved to be a success as the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV is the best-selling EV model in China. The model has been the undisputed market leader since its release in the second half of 2020. During Q2 2022, Wuling grew by 16% YoY to hold the third rank in the global EV market.

BMW: BMW’s EV sales during Q2 2022 increased by 18% YoY. The company has a more prominent presence in the PHEV segment. However, its BEV sales experienced a higher QoQ growth rate (18%) in Q2 2022 compared to its PHEV sales (2%). BMW’s aim to have 2 million BEV units on the road by the end of 2025 is motivating it to make significant developments in the EV category. The BMW X3 and i-series models are spearheading the company’s push in the BEV segment, while the 5-Series, 3-Series and X5 models are doing the same in the PHEV segment.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen’s EV sales declined 9% YoY in Q2 2022. Its shipments across Europe and the US declined by 44% YoY and 74% YoY, respectively. Bottlenecks in the supply of semiconductors and other automotive components due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, together with rising inflation, pushed EV sales down in these two markets. However, sales in China grew 115% YoY in Q2 2022. Apart from the supply chain crisis, the company’s internal issues and failure to develop new proprietary software for its vehicles are impacting the company’s EV shipment targets.

Global EV brands sales share Q2 2022_Counterpoint Technology
Source: Counterpoint Research Global Passenger Electric Vehicle Model Sales Tracker, Q1 2018 – Q2 2022

Discussing the reasons for the rise in EV sales, Research Vice President Neil Shah said, “Incentives play a crucial role in increasing EV adoption. For example, China’s strong incentive program for both automakers and consumers has helped the country become the global EV leader. China extended its consumer-side subsidies until 2023, even after deciding to end them in 2021. Moreover, China’s dual-credit policy for automakers has been a massive success and the government is planning to phase out consumer-side subsidies as its EV market reaches maturity. In contrast, lower subsidies in European countries have led to slow growth in EV sales. China’s EV market grew by over 90% YoY in Q2 2022, whereas Europe’s EV market increased by just 16% YoY. Rising EV sales in European nations have led to a discontinuation of many consumer-side subsidies on car purchases with the focus shifting to establishing improved charging infrastructure, including incentives for consumers to install charging points.”

Further commenting on EV subsidies, Shah said, “Recently, the US has brought a new EV policy which includes attractive incentives for both automakers and consumers. Benefits upto $12,000 are available for automakers and consumers on the purchase of a new EV. As a result, we expect to see an increase in EV sales in the US. Apart from these big markets, smaller markets like India, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia have started providing various benefits for EV buyers and automakers either directly as a rebate in prices or tax exemption.”

The top 10 EV models accounted for more than 30% of global EV sales in Q2 2022. Tesla’s Model Y remained the best-selling EV model. Wuling’s Hongguang Mini EV moved up to the second place, pushing Tesla’s Model 3 to third place. The Hongguang Mini EV’s long streak of being the best-selling model in China was broken by the Model Y in June 2022. Six out of the top ten best-selling EV models during the quarter were from Chinese OEMs and are mostly only available in China.

Global top 10 EV share Q2 2022_Counterpoint Technology
Source: Counterpoint Research Global Passenger Electric Vehicle Model Sales Tracker, Q1 2018 – Q2 2022

Commenting on the market outlook, Research Vice President Peter Richardson said, “The automotive industry is unlikely to fully recover from the semiconductor shortages until 2023. We do not expect global passenger EV sales to exceed 10 million units in 2022 considering the COVID-19 outbreaks, production shutdowns due to the power crisis, component shortages and rising consumer price inflation.”

*Sales here refer to wholesale figures, i.e. deliveries out of factories by respective brands/companies.

*Under electric vehicles (EVs), we are considering only battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are not included in this study.

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Global Electric Passenger Vehicle Model Sales Tracker, Q1 2018 – Q2 2022’ is now available for purchase at report.counterpointresearch.com.

Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

 Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts

Soumen Mandal

 

Neil Shah

 

Peter Richardson

 

Counterpoint Research

press@counterpointresearch.com

Related Reports:

Global EV Shipments Up 79% YoY in Q1 2022; Tesla Remains Leader

  • In Q1 2022, global electric passenger vehicle (EV) shipments exceeded 1.95 million units.
  • Passenger battery electric vehicle (BEV) shipments grew 90% YoY during the quarter.
  • EV shipments are expected to cross 10 million units by the end of 2022 and 58 million units by 2030.

New Delhi, London, San Diego, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul – July 8, 2022

After surviving the COVID-19 pandemic and semiconductor shortages, the global automotive sector continued to recover in early 2022. Passenger vehicle shipments, especially electric passenger vehicle* (EV) shipments, grew during the first quarter. According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Global Electric Passenger Vehicle Model Shipments Tracker, EV shipments grew 79% YoY in Q1 2022 to reach 1.95 million units. Of these, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 73% and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) for the rest. China remained the market leader in EV shipments, followed by Europe and the US. China’s EV shipments increased 126% YoY in Q1 2022 to reach more than 1.14 million units from just 0.5 million units in Q1 2021.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Research Analyst Soumen Mandal said, “The EV market is witnessing a boom. However, shipments would have been higher if the automotive supply chain was not affected by the Ukraine crisis and fresh COVID-19 waves in China in March 2022. With EVs comprising just 12% of the total passenger vehicle shipments during the first quarter of 2022, there is a lot of scope for expansion. Fresh players are entering the market to benefit from the opportunity. To counter new entrants, existing players are using leading-edge technologies to have improved battery, superior IVI system and higher levels of ADAS in their EV models as major selling points.”

Tesla: Tesla has registered phenomenal growth over the course of a year. The company’s shipments grew 68% YoY in Q1 2022 and are expected to cross 1.3 million units by the end of 2022. After operations started at the Shanghai Gigafactory in 2019, Tesla’s China shipments skyrocketed. With the Berlin Gigafactory becoming operational in March, Europe sales are likely to increase in Q2 2022. Tesla is currently the global EV market leader. In Q1 2022, it sold more vehicles than the next three OEMs combined in the BEV segment. Tesla will face competition from BYD, NIO and XPeng in China while Volkswagen is gearing up to compete on the global front. Despite this competition, Tesla is likely to remain the market leader in the BEV segment for the next few years.

BYD Auto: BYD emerged as China’s top EV seller during Q1 2022. Its EV shipments increased by a whopping 433% YoY to reach more than 0.28 million units. This was due to BYD increasing its production of BEVs and PHEVs while completely halting its internal combustion engine business. In Q1 2022, BYD’s BEV and PHEV shipments grew 271% YoY and 857% YoY, respectively.

Wuling: The joint venture between SAIC, GM and Wuling has proved a success as the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV is the most sold EV model in China. Compared to Q1 2021, Wuling grew by just 14% and currently holds the third rank in the global EV market. Wuling achieved high EV shipments by just operating across China and Indonesia. Expanding across the SEA countries will help its business to grow as competition in the region is not that high. An early entry will help Wuling to secure a significant market share.

BMW: Over the years, BMW has developed its business more in the PHEV segment than in BEV. BMW’s 16% YoY growth is mostly due to its offering of several new and improved PHEV models. BMW’s BEV shipments are predominantly driven by the company’s i-series models, while BMW Series 3 and Series 5 models are driving its PHEV shipments.

Volkswagen: Volkswagen is working hard to compete with Tesla in Europe, but its efforts have been disrupted by the supply crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With its ID models, Volkswagen wants to capture a significant share of the EV segment. During Q1, Volkswagen’s EV shipments increased by 25% YoY. China remains Volkswagen’s top EV market, followed by Europe and North America. Across all major regions, the company’s all-electric ID.4 model registered most shipments.

Counterpoint Research Global top 5 EV brands Q1 2022
Source: Counterpoint Research Global Electric Passenger Vehicle Model Shipments Tracker, Q1 2022

Discussing the reasons for the rise in EV shipments, Mandal further added, “Technological development is the key reason behind the increase in EV shipments. Battery technology has undergone recent breakthroughs. These developments have made batteries capable of longer ranges and longer overall lives. Range anxiety, one of the barriers to EV adoption, has reduced. The development of composite charging network infrastructure, subsidies from governments on EV purchases and increasing fuel prices combined with increasing environmental awareness are other reasons.”

On battery technology, Research Vice President Neil Shah said, “Different compositions of lithium-ion batteries and the development of LFP batteries have been a game changer in this field. Battery chemistries like NMC, NCA and LFP are used widely for their high energy density and safety. After an increase in the price of lithium due to the Ukraine crisis, OEMs are transitioning to LFP batteries which use very little lithium and are safer than NMC and NCA composition batteries. Alongside LFP, manufacturers are also working on revolutionary solid-state battery technology. Besides being safer, solid-state batteries have higher energy density and will be able to outperform other battery chemistries. In 2021, NIO showcased its new ET7 with a solid-state battery of 150kWh. But this was later replaced by a semi-solid-state battery for the vehicle’s launch in March 2022. Despite several clear advantages, the high cost of solid-state batteries will limit their potential for mass adoption in the near term.”

The top 10 EV models accounted for a third of global EV sales in Q1 2022. With Tesla’s new gigafactories coming up across the world, its Model Y and Model 3 currently hold the first two positions. Wuling’s budget model, the Hongguang MINI EV, has been the best-selling model in China for more than 15 months. Seven out of the top ten EV models are from Chinese OEMs. This shows the development of Chinese EV market over the past few years.

Counterpoint Research Global Top 10 EV model market share
Source: Counterpoint Research Global Electric Passenger Vehicle Model Shipments Tracker, Q1 2022

Commenting on the market outlook, Research Vice President Peter Richardson said, “With many countries aiming to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2040, car makers are facing a seismic change. Not only are they having to move to electric drivetrains, but cars are becoming smart, connected and increasingly able to drive themselves. This is the most tumultuous period since the auto industry was established more than a century ago. According to Counterpoint’s Global Passenger Car Forecast, EV shipments are expected to exceed 10 million units in 2022 and reach around 58 million units in 2030. There will be a fight for existence as incumbent auto manufacturers use their scale and manufacturing expertise to fend off new entrants that have no legacy business to protect. The current economic headwinds are likely to favor deep-pocketed incumbents, but some new entrants will either survive on their own or be acquired by established players.”

*Under electric vehicles (EVs), we are considering only battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are not included in this study.

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Global Electric Passenger Vehicle Model Shipments Tracker, Q1 2018-Q1 2022’ is now available for purchase at report.counterpointresearch.com.

Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

 Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts

 Soumen Mandal

The Branding Source: New logo: Twitter

Peter Richardson

The Branding Source: New logo: Twitter

Neil Shah

The Branding Source: New logo: Twitter  

Counterpoint Research

The Branding Source: New logo: Twitter

press(at)counterpointresearch.com

 

Related Reports:

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