More than 13.6 million plug-in electric cars were sold in 2023, accounting for about 16% of total car sales globally. Today, we will take a look at the largest manufacturers (automotive groups or OEMs) of rechargeable cars.
According to EV-Volumes data, shared by researcher Jose Pontes, five OEMs continue to be responsible for more than half of all plug-in car sales.
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2023 Plug-in car sales results
In 2023, almost 13.7 million new plug-in electric cars were registered globally. Out of that, almost 9.5 million were all-electric (11% of all cars).
First, we will check out the volume and share of the top OEMs in the overall plug-in market and then in the battery-electric segment.
The sales results of particular brands and models for December and 2023 can be found here.
Plug-ins (BEVs + PHEVs)
The plug-in category combines battery electric cars (BEV) and plug-in hybrid cars (PHEV). The top five in 2023 include BYD Group, Tesla, Volkswagen Group, Geely-Volvo, and SAIC.
Those five groups account for over 7.5 million rechargeable car registrations (up 41% year-over-year), increasing their share in the segment to 55% (from 52.8% in 2022). This leaves over 6.1 million (up 29%) and a 45% share for the rest of the industry.
BYD remains the largest group with over 3 million units registered and a 22% share (up from 18.4% in 2022).
Tesla maintains its second-place position (offering only all-electric cars), with more than 1.8 million units sold and a 13.2% share (up from 13.0% in 2022).
BYD and Tesla together represent 35.2% of the total plug-in market (up from 31.4% a year ago).
The third largest OEM—Volkswagen Group—noted 994,403 new plug-in car registrations, while its market share decreased to 7.3% (from 8.2% in 2022).
In 2023, Geely-Volvo replaced SAIC as the fourth top OEM in the plug-in car segment, expanding its share to 6.8% (925,111 units). SAIC’s share decreased to 5.8%.
Other OEMs are below five percent share: Stellantis (4.2%, down from 4.7% in 2022), BMW Group (4.1%), GAC (3.8%), and Hyundai Motor Group (3.7%, down from 4.6% in 2022).
Plug-in car registrations in Q1-Q4 2023 (vs. previous year):
- BYD Group: 3,012,070 and 22% share (vs. 18.4%)
- Tesla: 1,808,652 and 13.2% share (vs. 13.0%)
- Volkswagen Group: 994,403 and 7.3% share (vs. 8.2%)
- Geely-Volvo: 925,111 and 6.8% share (vs. 6.0%)
- SAIC (incl. SAIC-GM-Wuling): 791,521 and 5.8% share (vs. 7.2%)
Top 5 total: 7,531,757 and 55% share
Others: 6,157,534 and 45% share
Total: 13,689,291
Battery-Electric Vehicles (BEVs)
In terms of all-electric car registrations, the BEV-focused Tesla is the top manufacturer (no change here). The company noted over 1.8 million registrations, 19.1% of the BEV segment (compared to 18.2% in 2022). It means that Tesla was growing faster than the BEV industry on average.
BYD, which is second best, noted 1,570,388 units and a 16.5% share in the BEV segment (up from 12.6% in 2022). Here we can see a huge growth, which potentially—if continued—might put BYD as the #1 in 2024, ahead of Tesla. It already happened in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Tesla and BYD combined are responsible for 35.6% of all BEV registrations, compared to 30.8% in 2022.
The third-best OEM in 2023 is SAIC (incl. SAIC-GM-Wuling) with 748,159 units and a 7.9% share (down from 9.3% in 2022). The Chinese group once again ended ahead of the Volkswagen Group, which this time was much closer at 742,703 and 7.8% share (down from 7.9% in 2022). Geely-Volvo was fifth with 589,932 units and 6.2% share (compared to 5.3% in 2022).
Overall, the top five were responsible for 57.5% of all BEV sales (compared to 53.3% in 2022). It means that the biggest OEMs are becoming even bigger in the all-electric car segment. The first outside of the top five is GAC (5.3% share, up from 4.0% in 2022).
All-electric car registrations in Q1-Q4 2023 (vs. previous year):
- Tesla: 1,808,652 and 19.1% share (vs. 18.2%)
- BYD Group: 1,570,388 and 16.5% share (vs. 12.6%)
- SAIC (incl. SAIC-GM-Wuling): 748,159 and 7.9% share (vs. 9.3%)
- Volkswagen Group: 742,703 and 7.8% share (vs. 7.9%)
- Geely-Volvo: 589,932 and 6.2% share (vs. 5.3%)
Top 5 total: 5,459,834 and 57.5% share
Others: 4,033,206 and 42.5% share
Total: 9,493,040