As the new year begins, attention turns to the global electric vehicle sales outlook for 2024. Tesla (TSLA, Financial) announced a global sales decline for the first time, despite achieving record sales of over 657,000 units in China, an 8.8% increase from the previous year. The Chinese market continues to be a strong performer for electric vehicles.
Industry data indicates that in the first 11 months of last year, China accounted for 70% of global sales of pure electric and hybrid vehicles. Over 90% of the growth in global electric vehicle sales originated from China. Despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk's earlier prediction of slight sales growth for 2024, the company experienced a 1.1% decline, attributed to reduced EU subsidies, a U.S. consumer shift towards hybrids, and intensified global competition.
In China, Tesla's sales represented 36.7% of its global total. December saw a 12.8% month-on-month increase to a record 83,000 units sold. Tesla narrowly leads BYD in the pure electric segment, with Tesla's global sales at 1.79 million units and BYD at 1.76 million, a 12.1% increase. BYD's combined sales of pure electric and hybrid models exceeded 4.25 million units, a 41% rise, surpassing its annual sales target.
Additionally, BYD exported 417,000 vehicles, a 71.9% increase, accounting for 9.8% of its global sales. As of December 31, 2024, Tesla and Toyota maintained the top two positions in global automotive market value. BYD, previously third, was surpassed by Xiaomi, which entered the automotive market, reaching a market value of $112 billion.
