Eco-friendly Car Sales Strong Despite Semiconductor Shortage
Despite a severe global semiconductor shortage, global eco-friendly car sales were strong this year. In the electric car sales standings, Hyundai Motor Co. came in sixth, while Tesla remained in the top spot.
From January to September 2021, 2.92 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide, up 153 percent from a year earlier, said TrendForce, a Taiwanese market research firm, on Nov. 14. During the same period, 1.28 million plug-in hybrid cars were sold, up 135 percent from a year earlier. Combined sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles amounted to 4.2 million units.
In the case of electric cars, Tesla topped the list with a market share of 22 percent. Tesla's cumulative sales by the third quarter of this year already crossed last year's annual sales. China's Wuling Hongguang took second place with 10 percent. The Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer is expanding its sales in China with ultra-low-priced lightweight electric vehicles. China's BYD (6 percent) and Volkswagen (6 percent) ranked third and fourth, respectively.
Volkswagen aggressively strengthened the lineup of the ID family this year, which accounted for the majority of the German automaker’s electric vehicle sales. Hyundai Motor ranked sixth with a 3 percent share. Kia Corp. failed to make it to the top 10 until September this year.
In the plug-in hybrid segment, Germany’s BMW topped the list with 12 percent, followed by BYD with 12 percent. BYD’s ranking soared as sales of the DM-i model swelled significantly, Trend Force analyzed. Mercedes-Benz (10 percent) and Volvo (10 percent) came in third and fourth, respectively. Among Korean brands, Kia Corp. stood ninth with 4 percent.