Top All-Electric Car OEMs In Q2 2022: BYD Approaches Tesla

Another quarter is behind us and it’s time to check the three largest all-electric car manufacturers and their results.

Tesla remains the largest player in the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) market, but a lot is happening behind, as BYD strengthens, while Volkswagen Group (including Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and SEAT) tries to rebound.

Before we start, let’s remember that the second quarter was not a typical quarter due to all the ongoing and new supply issues globally (especially in Europe) and lockdowns in China.

In Q2, Tesla sold 254,695 electric cars, which is 27% more than a year ago. The result was lower than in the previous two quarters because the Tesla Giga Shanghai plant had a substantial production break due to a COVID-19-related lockdown.

As production resumes, and with the company upgrading the factory, we should see significantly higher levels later this year. The new plants in Germany and Texas should also contribute more to the total volume.

Meanwhile, BYD has not been that affected much by the lockdowns in China (different location of the plants and high level of vertical integration) and is very quickly increasing production. The Chinese company sets record after record, after record. In effect, it strengthened as the #2 with 180,296 BEVs (up 228% year-over-year) in Q2.

The Volkswagen Group has the ambition to challenge Tesla, but due to the situation in Europe (its largest EV market), the second quarter was barely positive. The group sold some 118,000 all-electric vehicles (up 6.3% year-over-year).

If we compare the weakened Tesla result with the weakened Volkswagen Group’s result, it turns out that the disproportion reduced vs Q1, but remains significant. Year-over-year Tesla’s advantage increased.

BEV sales results in Q2 2022:

BYD, on the other hand, has made a big jump and is leaving Volkswagen Group behind, approaching Tesla.

Assuming that Tesla will rebound from Q2, we guess that it’s too early for BYD to match Tesla’s BEV volume this year, but it’s getting interesting.

BEV sales results in Q2 2022:

In the end, we might see a close, three-horse race in the near future, but it’s really impossible to predict.

Who knows, maybe some other manufacturers will also join the race.