The U.S. electric vehicle market is expected to grow 54.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2023. Among these, Korean brands showed a good performance with a sales share of 7.2%, up 5.9% from the previous year.

The Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association (KAMA, Chairman Kang Nam-hoon) released a report titled 'U.S. Electric Vehicle Market Trends in the First Half of 2023.'

According to the report, the U.S. electric vehicle market grew 54.8% year-on-year, accounting for 8.6% of total passenger vehicle (sedan + small truck) sales, driven by easing supply chain disruptions, intensifying price competition, and expanding new model launches.

By type, BEVs increased by 59.2% and PHEVs by 39.4%, while FCEVs decreased by 0.4% due to model aging and downsizing.

Sales of electric vehicles in North America in the first half of the year increased 64.3% year-on-year, and the sales share also increased by 4.4 percentage points from 73% in the previous year to 77.4%.

Sales by manufacturer country showed that American brands increased by 60.7% year-on-year, and their share expanded from 68.5% the previous year to 71.2%, leading the U.S. electric vehicle market.

European brands saw a 125.5% year-on-year increase in BEV sales, driven by expansion of new lineups, the start-up of electric vehicle factories in the US, and a stabilization of the supply chain, leading to a production recovery. Overall electric vehicle sales rose 69.1% year-on-year.

Korean brands saw their growth slow down due to the suspension of individual purchase incentives, but they performed well, selling approximately 46,800 units (7.2% market share), up 5.9% year-on-year, through efforts to recover sales, including expanding the proportion of commercial sales such as leases and rentals, strengthening their lineups, and providing corporate incentives.

Japanese brands saw a 40.2% year-on-year increase, driven by the expansion of new BEV model launches by major companies.

Looking at the sales ranking by model, Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 took 1st and 2nd place in pure electric vehicles (BEV), selling 56% of all BEV sales, and Korean brandsDespite the exclusion of personal purchase incentives due to the IRA Act, the IONIQ 5 and EV6 ranked 7th and 10th in sales, respectively, and were included in the BEV Best Top 10.

Meanwhile, after the IRA took effect, major companies' investment plans in the U.S. are expanding and their implementation dates are being brought forward.

By the first quarter of 2023, automakers and battery companies had invested approximately $115 billion in electric vehicles and batteries, leading to the construction of 24 battery factories.

Battery production capacity for electric vehicles in the United States is projected to increase from 55 GWh per year by the end of 2021 to 1,000 GWh by 2030, enough to manufacture more than 10 million pure electric vehicles.

Kang Nam-hoon, chairman of the Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association, said, “As automakers are having difficulty making profits through electric vehicle sales, competition among companies will become more intense as the pressure to lower electric vehicle prices intensifies.” He added, “In order for the domestic automobile industry to secure competitiveness in the global market, it will become more important to establish a domestic electric vehicle ecosystem. To this end, it is necessary to utilize investment incentives such as the ‘Temporary Investment Tax Credit’ and the ‘National Strategic Technology Tax Credit’ to the fullest extent possible. It is necessary to continue and extend the investment support system so that companies can build a production base and make investments in a timely manner. In order to support parts companies that have had difficulties in transitioning to future vehicles, the ‘Special Act on Promotion of Transition and Fostering of the Ecosystem of the Future Automobile Parts Industry’ should be enacted as soon as possible and specific support measures should be prepared. In addition, domestic systems such as securing labor flexibility to promote investment by foreign-invested companies and enhance domestic production competitiveness should be strengthened.”“It must be accompanied by improvements,” he said.