Global electric car sales in February: Tesla regained the top selling title and a new spoiler appeared.

After a good start in January, global electric car sales surged 136 per cent year-on-year to 269743 in February, doubling for the fifth month in a row. Among them, sales of pure electric vehicles soared 139% year-on-year to about 173000. Generally speaking, car sales are usually low in February, but the good performance in February this year led EV Sales to predict that global electric vehicle sales will exceed 300000 for the rest of the year, while global electric vehicle sales may reach 4.5 million or even 5 million for the whole year.

In terms of market share, electric vehicles accounted for 4.6 per cent of the global car market in the first two months of this year, surpassing 4 per cent for the whole of last year, as sales of the overall car market continued to decline. EV Sales predicts that the global electric vehicle market share will continue to grow for the rest of the year.

After losing its position to Wuling Hongguang MINIEV briefly in January, Tesla Model 3 returned to the top of the list in February with monthly sales of 28014 vehicles. However, the rising star of the month also belongs to its brother model Model Y, which sold 13971 cars in February, ranking third. Of the five best-selling models in February, the other three were from China: the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, the BYD EV and the Great Wall Eula Black Cat, which sold 20167, 4100 and 4565, respectively.

In particular, the Ford Mustang Mach-E ranked sixth in February sales, delivering 4023 vehicles in its first month on the market, a gap of just 77 vehicles from fifth place, quickly becoming the best-selling electric model owned by traditional carmakers. In the United States that month, Tesla's market share fell to 69% from 81% last year, while Tesla's market share was basically taken away by Mach-E. As a result, the car is likely to become a disruptor in the electric car market this year. Cumulative sales of the car are expected to make it into the TOP20 list next month.

In terms of plug-in hybrids, last month, the world's best-selling plug-in model was the Volvo XC60 PHEV, which sold 3904, while Volvo still came in second place, with 3768 for the XC40 PHEV,. Volvo accounts for two of the four best-selling plug-in models in the world.

Tesla Model 3 still ranks second in terms of cumulative sales in the first two months of this year, but the gap between it and champion Wuling Hongguang MINIEV narrowed to 8, 000 from 15000 in January. Since Tesla usually reaches a delivery peak at the end of the quarter, cumulative sales of Model 3 models are expected to overtake Wuling Hongguang MINIEV by March.

Tesla Model Y firmly ranked third, selling a total of 23568 vehicles, further widening the gap with the fourth BYD EV (13398). The top six on the list remained unchanged from January, but Volvo XC60 PHEV overtook the ideal One and BMW 530e One to replace Chery eQ in seventh place. Volvo XC40 PHEV also rose from 15th to 11th.

The ranking of pure electric models has also changed, with several best-selling models starting to recover from their poor performance in January, such as the Nissan Leaf, which rose four places to 10th, Audi e-Tron rose three places to 13th, and Volkswagen ID.3 and Hyundai Kona EV re-entered the TOP20 list at 15th and 17th, respectively.

However, with the addition of more new electric models, many of the previous best-selling models are far behind, such as Renault Zoe, which ranked third last year and 12th this year; Hyundai Kona EV, which ranked fifth last year and now 17th; Volkswagen ID.3 may return to or surpass last year's levels this year, but Renault Zoe and Hyundai Kona EV may not be able to regain their former glory.

Another bright spot is the Changan new Mercedes-Benz, which sold a record 3304 cars in February, making it the seventh Chinese model on the list with 18th place. Among the models worth mentioning outside the TOP20 list are Peugeot 208EV, which currently ranks 21st, with a gap of only about 300 vehicles from No. 20, and is expected to return to the list soon.

In terms of market segments, the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV is the best-selling urban electric vehicle (Class A), while the Renault Zoe is the best-selling pure electric vehicle in the B-class field; the Nissan Leaf surpassed Volkswagen ID.3 (about 800s) to become the best-selling compact electric vehicle; the medium-sized car (D-Class) field is still led by Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. In the field of full-size cars, the BYD EV has a clear lead, with sales almost double that of the second-place Audi e-Tron and three times that of the third-placed Porsche Taycan (4265).

Thanks to the excellent sales performance in February, Tesla successfully won the championship from SAIC GM Wuling by selling 75743 vehicles in the first two months of this year, while SAIC GM Wuling sold 59922 vehicles in the first two months. Overall, the combined sales of the top two companies account for nearly 1/4 (23%) of the global electric car market.

BMW secured third place in sales, while Volkswagen and Volvo both moved up two places to fifth and sixth respectively, while Audi rose to ninth. In the second half of the list, Renault rose two places to 13th, but still fell six places from seventh place in the same period last year; Hyundai climbed to 18th, but still fell seven places from the same period last year.

Toyota unexpectedly rose three places to 15th place, and its RAV4 PHEV model made a big contribution to its sales. Ford is back on the list and currently ranks 17th, thanks to its February sales of 6680 vehicles. Ford's ranking is expected to continue to climb in the coming months as production and sales of the Mustang Mach-e increase.

Nissan is worth mentioning outside the top 20, with a gap of only 500. in addition, Chang'an, which is on the rise, is likely to be on the TOP20 rankings in the coming months.

In terms of market share, SAIC (SAIC + SAIC GM Wuling) still takes the lead, accounting for 14% of the global electric vehicle market. Tesla is not far behind with a 13 per cent market share and is expected to overtake SAIC to become the world's largest electric car maker next month. Volkswagen's market share is also growing, from 9% to 11%. As things stand, there will be a fierce competition among the three carmakers this year.