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Global electric vehicle and plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) sales hit a record in 2024 as booming growth in China and other parts of the world made up for weakness in Europe.
EV and battery research firm Rho Motion reported that global electrified vehicle sales jumped 25% to 17.1 million units sold. China led the way, with 40% growth and 11 million units sold.
“After the record-breaking year in 2023 for EV sales we entered 2024 with some optimism about the market despite headwinds,” Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester wrote in a statement. “While overall the global market has boomed, growing by a quarter over the year, the regional disparities have also grown. Europe’s market has shrunk 3% and China's [has] grown by 40%.”
Incentives such as government trade-in programs and the product prowess of BYD (1211.HK), which had over 40 models on sale, helped boost China sales, Rho Motion said. China growth came from PHEVs too, which had 81% growth last year compared to BEV (battery electric vehicle) growth of 19%. BYD primarily makes PHEV vehicles.
The Chinese market for EV and PHEV makers is paramount. In China, BYD is dominating, Volkswagen (VWAGY) and GM (GM) are struggling, and Tesla (TSLA) is poised to grow.
According to a local EV data tracker, Tesla’s Model Y was the best-selling car in China last year, selling nearly 480,000 units. In another bullish sign for Tesla and the Chinese market, the face-lifted Model Y (dubbed “Juniper” internally) saw 50,000 preorders on Monday’s launch day, per a Chinese news report.
The US and Canada saw record EV sales of 1.8 million units, resulting in 9% growth year over year, which is consistent with the region’s 10% or so approximate growth, per Rho Motion.
Meanwhile, Europe saw sales drop 3% in 2024, though regionally, there are differences, with Rho noting that the UK saw growth with 400,000 units sold, while Germany reversed lower.
Lester added that what is clear is that government “carrots and sticks” are working.
“In North America, the 9% growth can mostly be attributed to consumer subsidies and over in the UK, the ZEV [zero emission vehicle] mandate has highly incentivized manufacturers to push their low emission cars,” Lester said. “Meanwhile the removal of subsidies in Germany had a devastating impact on the whole European market, if the US follows suit, we may see the same there.”
Rho predicted the EV market in the US will be tested in 2025 by the incoming Trump administration's threat of reversing the EPA emission standards or EV tax credit. Easing emission regulations and removing the federal EV tax credit makes purchasing gas-powered vehicles more attractive.