“Chinese car manufacturers are the most competitive”

Diving into the recently published ranking of global electric car sales, we observe a significant rise in Chinese manufacturers, they dominate the Top 10 sales between January and August 2023. Tesla, with its Model Y, is an exception in a market increasingly influenced by China.

The ranking of global electric car sales from January to August 2023, published by CleanTechnica, reveals results that are surprising to say the least. Chinese brands, such as BYD (including Denza), Wuling and GAC Aion, largely dominate the top 10, relegating traditional and well-established brands in the sector to lower positions. In this race, Tesla is an exception as the only non-Chinese manufacturer to do well.

It is crucial to note that the ranking includes both 100% electric vehicles and some vehicles that are also plug-in hybrids, making the analysis complex and nuanced. The predominant presence of Chinese manufacturers in this top illustrates not only their competitiveness on the international market, but also the exceptional dynamics of the Chinese market in terms of electric vehicles.

This ranking shows above all that traditional European and American manufacturers therefore seem to have missed the shift towards 100% electric. Volkswagen, one of the industry giants, only appears in 11th place with its ID 4 model. Others, like Hyundai, also occupy surprisingly low positions in the ranking with the Ioniq 5. And the others… are not in this ranking. You might tell me… Volvo? The latter now belongs to the Chinese group Geely.

This situation sparked a reaction from Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, questioned on X (Twitter). He did not hesitate to recognize the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturers in the electric vehicle market. According to Elon Musk, the latter are currently the most likely to dominate the sector.

If we group all the models together, in the month of August, BYD is the leading manufacturer, then we find Tesla, GAC Aion, Volkswagen and BMW.

In France, the picture is slightly different

If we look at the French market, the picture is slightly different. Between January and September 2023, the sales ranking according to AAA Data shows that Chinese manufacturers are just starting to make their presence felt. MG (SAIC) occupies 7th place with the MG4, and the MG ZS is in 16th position, while the Volvo XC40 comes in 25th place.

However, the trend could reverse with the imminent launch of new vehicles by Chinese brands like Leapmotor, BYD, Nio, Aiways, Zeekr (Geely), and Xpeng. The French market could therefore, in the long term, reflect the trends observed on a global scale. Unless the changes made to the ecological bonus slow down these new entrants.