Global electric vehicle sales continued to soar in May, rising 199 per cent year-on-year to 442000 units, accounting for 6.6 per cent of global car sales in May, the third highest month in history. Of these, pure electric car sales surged 190 per cent year-on-year to 295000, accounting for 4.4 per cent of the global car market.
The excellent performance in May brought global electric vehicle sales to nearly 2 million in the first five months of this year, accounting for 5.8 per cent of the global car market (of which pure electric vehicles accounted for 3.8 per cent), surpassing the 4 per cent for the whole of last year. With the good performance of the global electric car market in the first five months, global electric vehicle sales are likely to exceed 5 million this year, with a double-digit market share by the end of the year or next year.
Global Top 20 electric model: Changan new Mercedes-Benz entered the list, Volkswagen ID.4 improved by leaps and bounds
In terms of May sales alone, there is a new face in the TOP 5 model: the Changan new Mercedes-Benz EV. Thanks to record sales of 8371 vehicles, the car ranks fifth in monthly sales and is only 158units behind Volkswagen's fourth ID.4. Tesla took the top two seats in the top three, while the Model 3 topped the list with monthly sales of 30874 vehicles, but it sold only 1500 more than the Model Y. The record 29378, Model Y sales in off-peak months mean that Tesla is still expanding in an all-round way, and the SUV is expected to win its first monthly sales title soon.
It is also worth mentioning that Volkswagen ID.3 and Renault Zoe, both sold more than 6000 cars in May and are preparing for a strong performance in the second half of the year.
In terms of cumulative sales in the first five months of this year, nothing stands out as Volkswagen's ID.4 jumped seven places into the top five. Sales of the model are expected to continue to climb in the coming months and may rise to fourth place.
Other models that made progress in the rankings included the Hyundai Kona EV, which rose one place to seventh; the Volkswagen ID.3 also performed well, climbing four places to the top 10, making it two Volkswagen models in the top 10; and Renault Zoe climbed five places to 11th thanks to its excellent performance in May.
Changan Mercedes-Benz EV also benefited from record sales on the TOP 20 list in May and is now 12th on the overall list, bringing a total of 16 all-electric models to the top 20. The ranking of the car is expected to continue to climb in the coming months. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list, the recent rebound in the US electric car market is obvious, with the Chevrolet Bolt climbing one place to 19th. In addition, the Toyota Prius PHEV returned to the list with sales of 5850 vehicles in May, its best performance since June 2017, and is now ranked 20th.
Outside the top 20, Skoda Enyaq and BYD Qin Plus PHEV are expected to make the list soon, and sales of both cars are on the rise.
Global Top 20 electric car brand: BYD beat BMW in fourth place, Nissan was removed from the list
In May, the Tesla brand sold a total of 60282 cars worldwide, winning the monthly sales title for four months in a row. BYD sold 31736 new cars that month, the second-highest month in history, making it the second-highest monthly sales list. Thanks to its good performance in May, BYD surpassed BMW in cumulative sales in the first five months to rank fourth on the overall list. In addition, in the context of the current rapid expansion of the electric vehicle market, BYD is also the only brand in the top five on the list that has not lost market share compared with last year (SAIC GM Wuling is not included because Wuling Hongguang MINIEV did not go public a year ago).
Compared with May 2020, Tesla's market share fell by 4 per cent (then 18 per cent and now 14 per cent), Volkswagen's market share fell from 7 per cent to 6 per cent and BMW's market share in electric cars fell from 7 per cent to 5 per cent.
So who took the market share lost by the above-mentioned brands? With the exception of SAIC GM Wuling, the other two brands that have seen an increase in market share are Mercedes, currently ranked sixth on the overall list, and Ulai, which ranked 17th, with market shares up 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively compared with the same period last year. It is also important to note that brands outside the TOP20 list now account for 23 per cent of the electric vehicle market, up from 19 per cent a year ago.
By the way, the same phenomenon occurs in the car sector, where TOP20 best-selling models currently account for only 42 per cent of the electric car market, while other models outside the list account for the remaining 58 per cent, up from 50 per cent a year ago.
In the second half of the list, Kia, Renault and Toyota all moved up one place, thanks to the slump of the Great Wall in May. Among them, Toyota sold a record 11714 electric cars in May, so talk of Toyota's slow electrification transformation now seems a bit exaggerated, and the brand may even make it into the top 10 in the future.
Other brands that have made progress include Hyundai and Ford. Ford now ranks 16th thanks to sales of 10155 vehicles in May, thanks in large part to the performance of the Mustang Mach-E and Kuga/Escape PHEV.
It is also worth mentioning that GAC, currently ranked 18th, sold 8470 electric cars in May, its best sales since December 2019. In addition, Skoda returned to the list with sales of 9301 vehicles in May and now ranks 20th, while pushing Nissan, the early leader of electric cars, out of the list.
Worth mentioning outside the top 20 is Changan, which currently ranks 21st and is expected to make the list soon, while Xiaopeng and Porsche are getting closer to the list.
In terms of market share, Tesla still leads with 14%, followed by Volkswagen with 13%, surpassing SAIC (SAIC + SAIC GM Wuling) with 12%. As things stand, the three automakers will have a fierce competition in the global electric car market this year.
