Global electric vehicle sales broke records in October

Electric vehicle (EV) research house Rho Motion has revealed that over 1.7 million EVs were sold over the month of October, overtaking the previous record, set in September, by 50,000.

The Chinese EV market has once again set another monthly record with 1.2 million units sold, growing by 6% compared to the previous month and by over 50% compared to October 2023. Year-to-date the Chinese EV market has grown by 38% and the global market at 24%.

Snapshot electric vehicle sales in January to October 2024 vs January to October 2023

• Global: 13.3 million, +24%
• China: 8.4 million, +38%
• EU & EFTA & UK: 2.5 million, -3%
• USA & Canada: 1.4 million, +9%
• Rest of World: 1.0 million, +27%

Rho Motion Data Manager Charles Lester comments, “The global EV market is now picking back up again, hitting record sales for the second month in a row. Most of the growth is coming from China and Western manufacturers are clearly feeling threatened by this. The U.S. market remains buoyant in part thanks to IRA funding for consumers switching to electric which may be at risk with the start of the Trump presidency.”

EU & EFTA & UK
Just over 260,000 EVs were sold in the EU & EFTA & UK in October 2024, growing by 1% year-on-year but falling by 14% month-on-month. The drop on a monthly basis is mostly due to falling automotive sales in the UK following high seasonal sales in September because of new registration plates. The German market has grown by 12% month-on-month and by 3% year-on-year, however, year-to-date (YTD) the EV market is still down by 18%. Serval markets continue to be strong, with the UK growing by 14% YTD, the Portuguese market by 11%, and the Danish market by 31%.

Volkswagen (VW), Europe’s largest automaker, announced its intentions to close three German plants to cut costs, coming against the backdrop of VW scaling back its cell production plans. Nissan also plans to cut jobs, as part of an effort to trim costs, at currently undisclosed locations. Svolt announced it will abandon plans to build two factories in Europe and will also shut down its European operations entirely by January 2025, describing it as a strategic decision driven by the underperformance of the European EV market. Other Chinese OEMs are still planning to build out EV production in Europe, for instance BYD.

China
There were record monthly sales for both BEVs and PHEVs in China in October 2024. BYD had another record month, reporting over 500,000 total sales in October 2024, 80,000 higher than the previous month, owing mostly to the growth in its PHEV sales. BYD’s export figures remain similar to the previous three months with just over 30,000 units sold. The Chinese EV market shows no signs of slowing down as it enters the final two strong automotive sales months of the year.

USA & Canada
The U.S. & Canada market continues to grow at a steady pace of 9% YTD. General Motors has now produced over 120,000 units of the Equinox EV, Blazer EV, and Honda Prologue, at its facility in Mexico this year, led by over 50,000 units of the Equinox. The U.S. Department of the Treasury also announced that consumers have saved more than USD2 billion in upfront costs on purchases of more than 300,000 clean vehicles since January 1, 2024.