Plugin electric vehicle sales enjoyed a notable increase to more than 13.6 million units globally in 2023, representing approximately 16% of the overall car sales. Of that total, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for nearly 9.5 million units.
Impressively, America’s Tesla and China’s BYD managed to capture 35% of the global electric vehicle market last year. Without further ado, here are the leading brands in both the plugin and all-electric vehicle segment last year:
Plugin segment
Chinese automaker BYD led the plugin electric vehicle segment in 2023, which includes plugin hybrids and battery-electric vehicles. All-electric automaker Tesla still managed to secure the second spot, followed by the German legacy brand Volkswagen.
Overall, BEV sales surged to 9,493,040 in 2023, capturing a notable 11% of the market. Refer to the table below:
| Brand | Sales (Q1-Q4 2023) | Share | vs. 2022 |
| BYD Group | 3,012,070 | 22% | 18.4% |
| Tesla | 1,808,652 | 13.2% | 13.0% |
| Volkswagen Group | 994,403 | 7.3% | 8.2% |
| Geely-Volvo | 925,111 | 6.8% | 6.0% |
| SAIC (incl. SAIC-GM-Wuling) | 791,521 | 5.8% | 7.2% |
| Top 5 Total | 7,531,757 | 55% | 52.8% |
| Others | 6,157,534 | 45% | – |
| Overall Total | 13,689,291 | About 16% | – |
These top five plugin automakers accounted for more than 7.5 million of the total registrations, representing a year-on-year growth of 41%. Their cumulative share also grew to 55% in 2023 from just 52.8% in the prior year.
In that sense, non-plugin vehicles only registered more than 6.1 million units (up 29%) with a 45% market share.
Battery-electric vehicle segment
As for the all-electric vehicle segment, Tesla dominated with a market share of 19.1%. It pushed BYD Group to the second spot with only a 16.5% share. The top five were completed by SAIC (7.9%), Volkswagen Group (7.8%), and Geely-Volvo (6.2%).
| Brand | Sales (Q1-Q4 2023) | Share | vs. 2022 |
| Tesla | 1,808,652 | 19.1% | 18.2% |
| BYD Group | 1,570,388 | 16.5% | 12.6% |
| SAIC (incl. SAIC-GM-Wuling) | 748,159 | 7.9% | 9.3% |
| Volkswagen Group | 742,703 | 7.8% | 7.9% |
| Geely-Volvo | 589,932 | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| Top 5 Total | 5,459,834 | 57.5% | 53.3% |
| Others | 4,033,206 | 42.5% | – |
| Overall Total | 9,493,040 | 11% | – |
All that said, the remarkable sales performance of plugin vehicles highlights the rapidly evolving dynamics of the market. The leading brands continue to contribute their huge influence among the industry and customers, further advancing the shift to electric mobility.
