According to market research firm Rho Motion, global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars increased by 13% in June compared to the same month in 2023 due to growth in China, but they decreased in Europe. China made up more than 60% of the total, according to Rho Motion statistics manager Charles Lester, who told Reuters that the country's domestic market share of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) increased in the first half of the year due to growing availability of electric vehicles and robust sales by BYD.
According to the data, 1.4 million PHEVs were sold globally in July, with 0.86 million of those sales occurring in China, where sales were up 25% from the previous year, according to Lester. He said that while monthly sales in Europe decreased by 7% to 0.30 million, the Netherlands, Finland, and Ireland had the biggest losses, while Italy saw a 34% gain as a result of government incentives.
PHEV sales increased by 6% to 0.14 million in the same month in the US and Canada. Lester said, "BYD sales soared in Brazil, contributing to more than tripled figures from June 2023."
"The overall picture is that 2024 is not going to see the ambitious growth some may have hoped for the industry and we have lowered our forecasts by five percent, to 16.6 million electric cars sold this year," Lester stated. He went on, "Regional disparities are quite remarkable."
After a sharp increase in demand over the last several years, sales of electric cars have decreased recently as buyers choose hybrid vehicles while they wait for more reasonably priced versions to become available. According to EU sources, the EU increased tensions with Beijing last week by imposing duties of up to 37.6% on imports of electric vehicles manufactured in China. This was Brussels' biggest trade dispute till date.
