Although the future of electromobility is currently being questioned, particularly in Germany, the global market is stable with rising sales figures. The global sales market for BEV grew by almost ten percent to around eleven million vehicles sold. PHEV grew by 58 percent and achieved sales of 6.4 million vehicles. Among other things, this is due to the increasing availability of models, improved battery technologies and falling prices. The PHEV market is growing in particular due to the "Extended Range Electric Vehicles" (EREV) that are popular in China.

The statistics for electric vehicles (EV) analysed here is limited to passenger cars (including vans and pick-ups). There is some uncertainty as vans are classified as commercial vehicles or vans, depending on the source. In addition, not all global sales figures were available at the time of publication for December 2024 and had to be approximated. In addition, production figures and sales figures are sometimes mixed in China. This explains the slightly different sales figures depending on the reporting and is the reason why only rounded figures are used in this article. In addition to the passenger car sector, there are an increasing number of electrified commercial vehicles, which, however, were not considered here.

Regional developments in the sales markets for electric vehicles in 2024

China's vehicle market grew slightly in 2024 compared to the previous year (+6 percent). "New energy vehicles" (NEV) are particularly responsible for this, accounting for more than 40 percent of the sales volume. With an increase in sales to around seven million BEV (+12 percent) and around five million PHEV vehicles (+82 percent), China continues to set standards in the field of e-mobility and is consolidating its position as a leading market. This is partly due to government incentives, subsidies, a comprehensive charging infrastructure and the affordable vehicle models on offer there.

From 2023 to 2024, Europe recorded a slight decline not only in the overall vehicle market (-4 percent), but also in BEV (-6 percent) and PHEV models (-5 percent). In total, around 1.9 million BEV and 860,000 PHEV were sold in Europe in 2024. However, there are further significant differences at country level, with the United Kingdom, for example, overtaking Germany as the largest European sales market for electric vehicles due to its subsidy policy.

The cancellation of the purchase premium for BEV is seen as the main reason for the weak sales year in Germany. The share also fell in countries such as France and Sweden. By contrast, countries such as Spain and the Netherlands were able to increase their share of electric cars among new registrations. Norway remains the global pioneer in terms of BEV market penetration, with a share of almost 90 percent of new registrations.

North America's current economic upturn is also reflected in the registration figures on the vehicle market. The overall passenger car market grew by six percent in 2024, while sales of electric vehicles increased by around eight percent to just under 1.4 million vehicles. The market for plug-in hybrids even grew by more than twelve percent to just over 300,000 vehicles. The USA is by far the most important market here. However, changes in the political subsidy landscape there and thus new market developments are possible in the near future.

Chinese electric car manufacturers with strong growth rates

The main beneficiaries of this growth are Chinese manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEM). BYD is leading the way as the largest EV producer with a growth rate of around 40 percent. A large number of other relatively new Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi (more than 100,000 vehicles from a standing start), Geely (+110 percent), Chery (+145 percent), Lynk & Co (+120 percent), Wuling (+100 percent) and Zeekr (+90 percent) were also able to increase their sales figures enormously in 2024.

Overall, Chinese manufacturers increased their EV sales by around 45 percent compared to the previous year, with BEV sales up 21 percent and PHEV sales up 92 percent. More than 50 percent of the vehicles produced by Chinese OEM are electric. The most important sales market is the domestic market. In contrast, the manufacturers' targeted expansion, particularly into Europe, is progressing much more slowly than expected. In North America, where only a few thousand vehicles are launched on the market, the number of Chinese exports has increased. In absolute terms, however, this is of little significance. In Europe, sales of Chinese sales figures even slumped by around ten percent. Despite this, Chinese manufacturers sold almost 5.8 million BEV and almost five million PHEV.

Slight decline in sales figures for European and American manufacturers

The sales figures of European manufacturers roughly reflect the market development in Europe. Overall, manufacturers suffered slight losses in BEV sales (-1 percent), but were able to slightly increase PHEV sales (+3 percent). In 2024, they sold a total of two million BEV and just under one million PHEV. In relation to the total of around 19 million vehicles produced, the electrification rate is just under 16 percent.

The largest European manufacturers of BEV and PHEV are the VW Group (+1 percent), followed by the BMW Group (+5 percent), Mercedes including Smart (roughly stable sales figures, but in particular a drop in BEV sales) and a large proportion of Stellantis brands, which, however, sold significantly fewer EV than in the previous year (-23 percent). Despite an increase in plug-in hybrids, sales by European manufacturers in North America fell by around two percent due to declining BEV figures. In China, sales of European models (particularly PHEV) fell by a total of eleven percent.

The dynamics of North American manufacturers are strongly characterised by Tesla. As the company recorded a slight decline in deliveries of its vehicles (-1 percent), it significantly reinforced the trend of slightly declining figures for North American car manufacturers as a whole. In total, OEM produced around 2.4 million BEV and 240,000 PHEV here. Of these, around 350,000 BEV and 55,000 PHEV were sold in Europe. This represents a decline of 30 percent compared to the previous year.

Global increase despite decline in the USA and Europe

Globally, BEV and PHEV account for over 21 percent of all newly registered passenger cars in 2024. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase in sales of around 24 percent. While Europe's market growth is stagnating overall, it is thanks to China in particular that the electrification of private transport continues to progress. 

The data used in this article comes from the "BEMA On" (grant number 03XP0621A) research project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.