These are the world's most successful electric car manufacturers

Which automakers are succeeding with greener electric vehicles, and which ones are lagging behind? Overview.

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The electric vehicle market is currently dominated by two manufacturers: Tesla and BYD from China.

Electric vehicle pioneer Tesla sold nearly 1.3 million electric vehicles in the first nine months of this year, 124,000 more than rival BYD. However, a year ago, Tesla still led the way after nine months with 276,000 units sold.

Tesla continues to sell the most pure electric vehicles, often abbreviated as BEV (battery electric vehicle). Sales at Elon Musk's car company fell 2.6% from the previous year, with Tesla's sales in Europe falling 11.8%. Tesla's weakness in Europe helped BYD close the gap. The Chinese have a global growth rate of 11.6%. BYD may even intercept Musk Group before the end of this year.

As of the end of September, Volkswagen and Geely Automobile each had more than 500,000 electric vehicles, ranking third. Geely Automobile, which owns well-known brands such as Volvo and Polestar, has become a rising star this year with a 51% increase. Like BYD, Geely's electric vehicles account for a particularly high share of total sales. China is currently just ahead of Volkswagen (-4.7% compared to the previous year) and well ahead of GM-Wuling (another large Chinese manufacturer) and sixth-ranked Hyundai-Kia (-8.1%).

Promotion and relegation teams

In addition to Volkswagen (ranked 4th), BMW (ranked 7th) and Mercedes (ranked 10th) also rounded out the top ten. While BMW's EV sales are getting better (+19%), Mercedes' luxury EV dealerships are increasingly staying the same (-22%). The Germans now hope the electric Mercedes CLA will set new standards in terms of range and efficiency.

At Stellantis (9th, -17%), which owns brands such as Peugeot and Opel, flat sales of the Fiat 500 and delays in the arrival of the cheap Citroën E-C3 small car led to huge losses. Things were even worse for Renault: the French team dropped from 13th last year to 21st. Renault is certainly hoping that the new electric version of the Renault 5 can turn things around.

stragglers

Major U.S. automakers rank 13th (General Motors) and 25th (Ford). General Motors rose two spots, up 56%, while Ford fell eight spots (-17%). The F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck was a failure for Ford, and in Europe, the American doesn't yet have an electric small car in its portfolio. Even smartphone maker and new automaker Xiaomi is outselling Ford's electric cars with just one model.

The world's largest automaker, Toyota (No. 17), isn't pulling any punches either, with only one percent of all Toyota cars sold being fully electric. The other major Japanese manufacturers ranked 23rd (Nissan) and 30th (Honda) respectively. The Japanese are prioritizing hybrid vehicles and are consciously taking their time to develop new electric vehicles. With this strategy, you can benefit from the global hybrid craze. But Toyota and Nissan have also had to accept a sharp drop in profits recently as the Chinese shift away from domestic production to all-electric vehicles faster than the Japanese thought.

Why Chinese manufacturers dominate

China is by far the largest market for electric vehicles, ahead of Europe and North America. Almost a third of new cars sold in China are fully electric, and the trend is rising rapidly. In Europe, the market share of electric vehicles is 15%, followed by the United States at 10%.

This is reflected in the ranking of the largest electric car manufacturers: about half of the 30 largest electric car manufacturers are from China. You'll benefit from government funding and a large and rapidly growing domestic market. A fierce price war between dozens of Chinese and foreign suppliers means electric cars in China are now cheaper on average than combustion or hybrid vehicles. By 2030, urban areas will have almost exclusively new electric vehicles on the road.

Leadership in battery technology is key to China’s electric vehicle dominance. For example, BYD is not only the second largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the world, but it is also currently ranked second in the battery market. This dominance is underlined by the fact that top-ranked CATL is also from China.

Electric cars from China? instead of

Western and Japanese automakers are rapidly losing market share in China, and even Tesla is under pressure. By contrast, BYD and its companies are paying the price in the West. Chinese automakers have only a few percentage points of market share in Western Europe. Lack of brand awareness, lack of dealer network and customer reservations about China are just some of the obstacles the Chinese are overcoming.
Things aren't getting any better as the EU imposes new punitive tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars.

The North American market may be completely lost for most Chinese automakers. US President Joe Biden has increased tariffs on electric vehicles from China to 100%. Best case scenario, Donald Trump will do better and eliminate current subsidies for electric vehicles. This is a very bad prospect for Chinese electric car manufacturers.

In short: Conquering the West is not a guaranteed success for the Chinese EV industry.