Global electric vehicle sales increased by 21 percent year-on-year in July, marking the slowest growth rate since January and slower than the 25 percent growth in June, as sales of plug-in hybrids in China weakened, market research firm Rho Motion reported on Wednesday.
Global sales of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids rose to 1.6 million units in July, according to Rho Motion data.
Overall car sales growth slowed in July, and Chinese BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, experienced a decline in registrations for the third consecutive month.
China is the world’s largest car market, accounting for more than half of global electric vehicle sales, which in Rho Motion’s data includes electric-powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
Chinese electric vehicle sales growth, which averaged 36 percent monthly in the first half of the year, decreased to 12 percent in July. The reason is the reduction of government subsidy programs for purchasing electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids by 2025, said Charles Lester, head of the data entry team at Rho Motion. Chinese sales reached about one million vehicles in July.
Sales in Europe increased by 48 percent to around 390 thousand units, while sales in North America rose by 10 percent to over 170 thousand. Sales in the rest of the world surged by 55 percent to more than 140 thousand vehicles.
Chinese car sales are expected to return to strong growth from August, as new funds will become available for subsidy programs, while the reduction of U.S. tax incentives for purchasing or leasing new electric vehicles at the end of September will harm demand there, Lester added.
