Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose by 21% in July over the previous year, a market research firm said on Monday.
That result stemmed from China’s strongest growth this year and occurred despite dropping demand in Europe, Rho Motion said.
In the European Union MG Motor, owned by China’s SAIC Motor Corp, expects to be hit hardest by provisional tariffs imposed on EVs imported from China, the researcher’s data manager Charles Lester said.
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The impact of the European tariffs should be smaller on Tesla, as it can produce in its Berlin factory, Lester said, while Chinese EV giant BYD, whose presence in Europe remains small.
1.3 million EVs sold in July
EVs – whether fully electric (BEV) or plug-in hybrids (PHEV) – sold worldwide were at 1.35 million in July, some 0.88 million of which were in China, where they were up 31% year-on-year, the data showed.
The number of plug-in hybrids sold in China in the first seven months of this year were up 70% from 2023.
Over the same period, BYD – China’s and the world’s biggest EV maker – reported increases of 13% and 44% in its global BEV and PHEV sales, respectively.
In Europe, monthly sales were down 7.8% in July, so that year-to-date figures were in line with sales in 2023. In the seven months to July, they dropped by 12% in Germany, the EU’s biggest EV market.
In the United States and Canada, EV sales were up 7.1% in July.
Range extender vehicles selling well
“BYD continued to have record sales of plug-in hybrids again this month, which is a key contributor as they have a large volume of vehicles that they sell,” Lester said.
Range extender vehicles, battery-powered hybrid cars that recharge with an on-board generator, are also selling in large numbers, Lester said.
The European Union imposed in July provisional tariffs on imports of electric cars made in China. BYD faces duties of 17.4%, Geely 19.9% and SAIC 37.6%, the EU said.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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