▲ Electric vehicle (BEV) sales by country and automaker group (Source: Korea Automobile Research Institute)



Tesla Global Sales in 2021: 920,000 Units… 1st Place
Hyundai Motors Domestic BEV Sales 72,000 Units… 157% ↑

While overall vehicle sales in 2021 showed a weak recovery, increasing by 4% year-on-year, electric vehicle sales showed a triple-digit growth rate, firmly establishing themselves in the automobile market.

According to data from the Korea Automobile Research Institute, global electric vehicle new car sales in 2021 were approximately 4.72 million units, up 112% year-on-year, accounting for 5.8% of total finished vehicle sales.

By region, China and Korea recorded sales growth rates of 158% and 115%, respectively, which were significantly higher than other regions.

China ranked first last year, selling 2,717,937 units, while Europe came in second with 1,281,449 units.

Tesla took first place in sales, followed by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, Volkswagen, BYD, and Hyundai Motor Group.

Tesla sold 921,642 units last year, accounting for 19.5% of all electric vehicle sales.

This is a record that has not been relinquished since 2018, making it the world's number one electric vehicle sales company.

Last year, the top two global best-selling electric vehicle models were Tesla's 'Model 3' and 'Model Y'..

It led Tesla's annual growth rate to 86% by selling 470,000 and 426,000 units worldwide, respectively.

The domestic electric vehicle market was also hot last year.

In 2021, domestic electric vehicle sales increased 115% year-on-year to 106,810 units.

In Korea, Tesla's growth rate has slowed down due to increased sales of Hyundai Ioniq 5, Porter 2 EV, and Kia EV6.

Hyundai Motor Group sold 71,785 electric vehicles last year, taking up 71.3% of the domestic electric vehicle market share and recording an annual growth rate of 157%.

The Ioniq 5, launched in 2021, sold 22,671 units, ranking first in sales within the Hyundai Motor Group.

Tesla recorded domestic sales of 17,828 units last year, a 51% increase over the previous year.

China's electric vehicle market is growing rapidly.

Last year, China exported about 500,000 electric vehicles, establishing itself as the world's largest exporter of electric vehicles.

The growth rate, which had been at 2% in 2020, recorded 158% last year, and 2,717,937 units were sold, ranking first in global electric vehicle sales.

Shanghai GM Wuling's 'Hongguang MINI' was the third best-selling model last year with 419,000 units sold, proving the potential of creating a new electric vehicle category.

In 2022, global companies are expected to compete fiercely by releasing various electric vehicle models.

Following Kia's 'EV6' being named 'European Car of the Year', Hyundai's 'Ioniq 5' was named '2022 UK Car of the Year', sending a positive signal for its advance into the European market.

Hyundai plans to continue its upward trend by launching the 'Ioniq 6' in the second half of this year.

However, the ongoing semiconductor shortage and the war between Ukraine and Russia could cause a surge in the price of nickel, a key battery raw material, which could hamper the electric vehicle industry.

Due to the semiconductor shortage, the waiting period for the delivery of Kia's 'EV6' has increased by about two months from the beginning of the year to 15 months and that of Hyundai's Genesis electric vehicle G60 to 12 months.

According to the Korea Resource Information Service, the price of nickel on the 10th was $42,995 per ton, up 79.1% from $24,055 on the 10th of last month.

The Korea Automobile Research Institute reported that the supply chain management capabilities of automakers for nickel can also be reflected in sales volume.

He added that the electric vehicle market is still an early market with a large impact from subsidies, and that regional sales patterns and growth rates are expected to vary depending on changes in purchase subsidy policies in some countries this year.