Global sales for new energy vehicles (NEVs) rose by 63.6% in 2022 to reach 10.65 million units and show no signs of slowing this year, according to new data from market research firm TrendForce.
The two largest sales markets for NEVs, which includes battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs), were China and Western Europe but China’s share of the global market expanded to 63%.
Of these sales, BEVs comprised 7.89 million units with a growth rate of 69.7% year-over-year and sales of PHEVs comprised 2.74 million units with a year-over-year growth rate of 50.8%.
TrendForce forecasts that NEV sales are projected to keep rising in 2023, growing to a total of 14.51 million units with a growth rate of 36.2% from 2022.
BYD rising
In the BEV segment, Tesla Motors remained the top brand for sales in 2022 but its market share slipped to 16.6%. Chinese EV brand BYD increased market share to 11.5% in the same year, narrowing the gap with Tesla to just about five percentage points.
TrendForce said BYD’s growth was mainly due to its popular electric subcompact hatchback named Dolphin, which accounted for 23% of BYD’s BEV sales last year.
Looking to 2023, Tesla has slashed prices across all regions where it operates while BYD is looking to establish itself in the higher-end vehicle segment. It will also create a luxury car brand named YangWang.
BYD king of PHEV
BYD is also the top of the 2022 rankings in the PHEV market with 946,000 units and a growth rate of 247%. This pushed BYD’s global market share to 34.5%.
Not surprisingly, other PHEV brands were unable to gain any ground on BYD. However, Chinese brand Li Auto rose to fifth place in the PHEV rankings and Jeep took seventh place based on rising sales in the U.S.
According to TrendForce, although PHEV sales doubled in China last year, the European market declined in the same year and PHEV sales in 2023 will be dependent on brands’ respective regional strategies.
