The IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich this week will see some of the world’s leading car makers and EV production models exhibiting their electric vision for the future of mobility. German car brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW are still relatively unconvinced about the switch to electric and are continuing work on combustion engines. Smaller, more specialized companies such as Tesla and Chinese market leader BYD have raced ahead with newer EV models.
In H1 of 2023, BYD alone sold almost 1.2 million plug-in electric vehicles (incl. plug-in hybrids), roughly double the combined total of BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes. The company recently surpassed Volkswagen as the number 1 car brand in China and now has Europe in sight. On September 4, 2023. BYD presented six models for the European market in Munich, a market it entered less than a year ago. Between January and July, the company sold 92,469 EVs overseas, already exceeding the total of 2022.
Germany prides itself on its automotive excellence and China is not well perceived for quality manufacturing. BYD and Tesla have opened up a sizeable lead in the global EV market, where other Chinese brands such as GAC Aion, SGMW and Li Auto are also among the largest players thanks to their huge home market.
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BYD Cars
BYD has made a successful transition from international combustion vehicles to what’s known as “new energy vehicles” in China, i.e. battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. The company increased production of its electric passenger vehicles at a much higher pace than European or American legacy carmakers.
Within five years, BYD grew its sales of electric passenger vehicles from around 200,000 cars per year to 1.86 million in 2022. They did this while gradually phasing out production of gasoline-powered cars, the last of which rolled off the assembly line in March 2022.
In China, BYD could reach 3 million in total vehicle sales this year.
In August 2023, BYD celebrated the production of its five millionth new energy vehicle after taking 13 years to produce its one million vehicle. Through August, BYD had already sold 1.78 million plug-in electric cars, up 83 percent from the same period last year.
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