In this article, we will be taking a look at the 20 countries with most cars per capita in the world. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 countries with most cars per capita in the world.
While the automotive industry may be at a crossroads right now, its value is continuing to increase, an important factor for one of the biggest industries in the world, which was worth at least $2.7 trillion in 2021, according to Business Research Insights and expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.01% till 2031, with the forecast expecting the industry value to land at nearly $3.6 trillion in 2031.
In the last few years, even since global supply chain disruptions hit various industries, chip shortages have led to reduced supply of vehicles, resulting in major price increases for brand new vehicles, with another factor in higher prices being rising productions too. The trend of increasing price continued at the start of 2023, and in January 2023, car prices were at least 4.2% higher year on year. This has also resulted in used cars seeing much higher demand, which has raised prices there significantly too, as prices were around 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels, including in the countries with the most cars per capita in the world.
A dealership showroom full of new and used cars representing the company's selection. Editorial photo for a financial news article. 8k. --ar 16:9
China is easily the largest car producer in the world by a country mile, though you'll have to read on to find out if it even ranks in terms of countries with the most cars per capita in the world. China has also established itself as the center of the biggest change in the automobile industry in history; the electric vehicle revolution. At the same time, Delhi is the city with the most number of vehicles, with registered vehicles exceeding 10 million!
With the impact of climate change being felt across the world, most governments, especially in developed economies have focused on transitioning to electric vehicles. The industry's potential is limitless, and most of the biggest car manufacturers by revenue in 2023 have also started focusing on transitioning to the industry. According to the International Energy Agency, growth in electric cars sold has been exponential in 2022, and accounted for nearly 14% of the total number of cars sold, which might seem insignificant but was a significant improvement from 9% in 2021. China's long-term vision and early adoption of EV trends has seen it become the leader and in 2022, accounted for 60% of all EV sales and is one of three major markets in this space. In fact, China is already responsible for over 50% of all electric vehicles currently on the road and has already surpassed its 2025 targets. These trends are expected to continue to improve in 2023 in other major markets too, with Europe seeing an even higher share of electric car sales than the global average, while the U.S., the third largest market and one of the countries with the most cars per capita in the world, saw electric cars account for 8% of total sales in 2022, still well below the global average but consistently improving.
Another industry in the automotive sector which has been gaining popularity in the last several years is the self-driving market. Significant break-throughs in the last few years have given hope that the time isn't far that self-driving cars will be more commonplace but a few setbacks have also dampened expectations at the same time. According to McKinsey & Company, the self-driving industry could generate revenue in excess of $400 billion by 2035, despite the aforementioned setbacks which have pushed out the timelines for autonomous vehicles. However, the technology isn't just something fancy for the rich to enjoy but has the potential to transform the entire transportation industry, though according to McKinsey, might require a change in thinking with respect to sales and business strategies. The Chief Executive Officer of the electric vehicle company Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI), Xiang Li, said in the company’s Q2 2023 earnings call:
“We made rapid progress in autonomous driving this year. In June 2023, we started test drives for China's first NOA and commute NOA, which do not rely on high-definition maps in [Wangjing] (ph), known as one of the most complicated traffic zones in Beijing. We also rolled out our city NOA to early bird users in Beijing and Shanghai. On the perception front, we use BEV models enhanced by innovative NPN features and TIN network to perceive complex road structures in real time and comprehend traffic rules. While utilizing occupancy network to identify common obstacles, we also utilized imitation learning and control algorithms to make judgments more akin to human drivers. Test drivers and media have spoken highly of driving safety, efficiency and comfort demonstrated by Li Auto AD Max.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) has seen its share price increase by nearly 50% YTD 2023. In June 2023, Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) delivered nearly 33,000 vehicles, representing a growth rate of nearly 150% year on year, with total first half deliveries already exceeding total annual deliveries in 2022.
Of course, it is difficult to talk about the automotive industry without focusing on one of the most profitable car companies in the world and the most valuable car company in the world in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Tesla, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) performance has been brilliant in 2023, with its share price recovering after a disastrous 2022 to record an increase of 96% YTD 2023, though it's still almost at the same price it was one year ago. In the last week, the company's stock price dropped by 15%, its worst performance of the year after CEO Elon Musk called out the macroeconomic challenges in the company's Q3 2023 earnings call and also the issues with the much-awaited Cybertruck, stating " I mean, we dug our own grave with the Cybertruck. You know, nobody – in general, probably nobody digs a grave better than themselves. And so, it is -- Cybertruck's one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while. And special products that come along once in a long while are just incredibly difficult to bring to market to reach volume, to be prosperous. It's fundamental to the nature of the newness. So, now the sort of high-volume, low-cost smaller vehicle is actually much more conventional."
Methodology
China may be the largest car producer in the world, but its not the country with the most cars per capita. To determine vehicles per capita by country, we considered the co-relation between the countries with the highest GDPs and selected the first we first assessed total cars per country based on data from either the country's transportation department, CEIC and in case of European countries, from the European Commission. We then divided it by the country's total population to arrive to our per capita data and rankings.
Cars per 1,000 people: 433
Car production in Mexico increased by 13.54% year on year in the first three quarters of 2023, even as ports struggled to deal with the massive growth in the automotive industry.
Cars per 1,000 people: 459
While Ireland's population is very small, it is still among the countries with the most cars per capita in the world, and is also contributing disproportionately to the automotive R&D sector.
Cars per 1,000 people: 466
While there's still a long way to go, Indonesia's automotive industry is still moving towards electrification, starting off with motorcycles and moving onto cars, with the hope that there will be at least 2.2 million electric cars on the road by 2030, and the long-term target of selling only EVs by 2050.
Cars per 1,000 people: 475
Plugin electric vehicles (PEVs) are seeing a huge surge in popularity in Sweden, where the PEV market share hit 62% in May 2023.
Cars per 1,000 people: 499
Netherlands has continued to make steady progress moving towards EVs, and in August 2023, 45% of new-car sales were battery electric vehicles.
Cars per 1,000 people: 500
In 2022, the manufacturing of motor vehicles and parts contributed more than £13 billion to the UK's economy, accounting for 0.6% of total output. Currently, around 160,000 employees work in the automotive industry in the UK.
Cars per 1,000 people: 501
The biggest car companies in South Korea are KIA and Hyundai, which have contributed to Korea having one of the highest cars per capita in the world, and the government confirmed in 2023 plans to support Korea's automotive supply chain to ensure consistent growth in the sector, by making available over $11 billion. The money is also expected to help the country transition to EV.
Cars per 1,000 people: 508
Belgium is being noted as an attractive destination for major car companies, which are expanding their presence in Belgium.
Cars per 1,000 people: 523
Spain is one of the countries with the highest per capita cars in the world, and while the industry has struggled recently, Spain is optimistic about investment in its auto-sector after the s0-called Euro 7 agreement.
Cars per 1,000 people: 548
Since Autumn 2022, car registrations have increased in Switzerland, resulting in it being among the countries with the most cars per capita in the world, with this trend continuing in 2023.
Cars per 1,000 people: 555
In 2022, over 80% of all cars purchased in Norway were electric, showing that the electric car revolution is truly underway in the country.
Cars per 1,000 people: 568
While Austria has a robust public transport, is also has a high ratio of cars. The government has recently considered seizing and auctioning cars of people speeding, and the government has also backed the EU's agreement to phase out CO2 emitting cars by 2035.
Cars per 1,000 people: 570
A French startup recently raised over 2 billion euros to establish a gigafactory for car batteries, while France is also issuing new automotive subsidies to ensure French companies are competitive with cheap Chinese EVs, which are attempting to flood the market.
Cars per 1,000 people: 577
Germany has long been heralded as one of the top car producers, and German cars are known for their fine engineering and detail, with BMW and Mercedes being some of the well-known luxury car companies in the country, and among the top car companies globally. Of course, it is also home to Volkswagen, which is the largest car company in the world by far. Recently, Germany's car sector has faced issues recently, amid the transition to electric vehicles and Volkswagen is setting up more production units in Eastern Europe and restructuring existing plants to cut down on costs.
Cars per 1,000 people: 659
Japan has some of the biggest car companies in the world including Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM). However, Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) has faced some issues recently because of supplier problems which resulted in two plants being shut down. Despite this setback, Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) has had a stellar year, with its share price increasing by more than 45% YTD 2023.
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Disclosure: None. 20 countries with most cars per capita in the world is originally published on Insider Monkey.
