3 days Ago By Felicity Bradstock
While electric vehicle (EV) sales are lagging in the U.S., contrary to the previously optimistic forecasts, Chinese EV sales are now booming.
Several major Chinese automotive companies, as well as multiple start-ups, have reported record sales figures in the third quarter of the year. This trend has been widely anticipated by industry experts thanks to the competitive pricing and broad variety of EV models being offered by Chinese companies. Earlier this year, the U.
S. announced that its EV sales were not increasing in line with previous forecasts. in the first quarter of 2024, which prompted Ford to substantially scale back expansion plans, while Tesla of its global workforce.
Consumers appeared to rush to buy EVs from some brands, such as Hyundai, BMW, Kia, and Cadillac while rejecting those with inferior battery range, slower charging, and high prices. Delays in the arrival of new vehicles to the market added to the contracted sales figures. The story has been much the same in Europe, where are slowing EV adoption.
However, longer-term forecasts for U.S. EV sales remain largely unchanged, with an , compared to 1.
1 million last year While U.S. automakers are facing several hurdles on the road to expanding their EV market, China is facing no such problem.
The Chinese EV market has grown rapidly in recent years, supported by government subsidies, low-cost manufacturing prices, and access to vital production materials – such as lithium batteries. This has encouraged conventional automakers to expand into EV production and a multitude of EV start-ups have emerged. The Chinese government began investing in research into EVs as early as 2001 and increased investment following the launch of the first Tesla model and the hosting of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
To tackle air pollution and increase its EV market, the Chinese government began to incentivise EV uptake in the 2010s. It also reformed its industrial policy support for the EV industry, introducing tax exceptions and subsidies for automakers. The China EV market size was estimated at almost $305.
6 billion in 2024 and is expected to increase to nearly , growing at a CAGR of 17.15 percent. In October, the Chinese EV maker BYD announced that its quarterly sales were higher than those of Tesla for the first time.
BYD reported , marking a 24 percent increase from the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, Tesla posted . The automaker sold a record number of passenger vehicles in , with hybrid vehicles contributing a significant proportion of its sales.
Nevertheless, Tesla remains on top when it comes to profit, reporting a net profit of $2.18 billion from July to September, an increase of 16.2 percent from the same period in 2023.
BYD, meanwhile, saw an increase in profits of 11.5 percent. Tesla has also posted high sales figures for the year to date, at around $71.
98 billion, compared to BYD’s roughly $70.53 billion in sales. However, considering BYD was little known just a few years ago, its profit increase and the growing international awareness of the brand are impressive.
Sales of EVs from China’s Zeekr also rose significantly in the third quarter of the year, with deliveries increasing by 92 percent in October this year, compared to 2023, at 25,049 vehicles. So far this year, Zeekr has delivered a reported 168,000 vehicles. It expects to increase this figure to 230,000 cars by the end of the year.
The automaker commenced deliveries of its new five-seat SUV Zeekr in October, which it expects to help boost sales over the next two months. Meanwhile, China’s Xpeng saw record vehicle ; the premium EV brand Nio delivered 20,976 cars; and Li Auto delivered 51,443 cars. Xiaomi, which launched its first car – the SU7 – in late March, expects to deliver 100,000 EVs by the end of November, having delivered over 75,000 cars by October.
While China’s EV companies have grown rapidly to rival several well-known international EV makers, the introduction of tariffs on Chinese car imports by the U.S. and EU could stifle sales in the coming years.
In late October, the EU it would implement tariff increases on Chinese EVs, increasing duties to as much as 45.3 percent. China’s EV market has grown extraordinarily rapidly over the last decade, with Chinese companies now rivalling the U.
S. EV star Tesla and several other well-known automakers. While the U.
S. and EU are contending with less-than-positive EV sales figures this year, China is experiencing an EV boom, with several companies reporting record sales. However, this could all change if the U.
S. and EU – two of the world’s largest EV markets, introduce new tariffs on Chinese EVs. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.
com.
