Battery electric vehicle production increased to 8.7 million units in 2022 from 4.9 million units in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 78%, Lear Corporation noted.
More than any other country, China pushed this growth.
Overall, Lear explained that the growing demand for electric vehicles is driven by numerous product offerings from traditional and non-traditional automakers, government requirements and incentives, internal goals of automakers, and a growing segment of end consumers seeking alternatives to vehicles with traditional ICE architectures.
Meeting this demand requires increased use of electronically controlled and assisted powertrains and related components to improve fuel efficiency; the adoption of alternative energy powertrains, such as 48-volt mild hybrid, full hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure battery electric, that facilitate vehicle electrification; and the use of lighter materials throughout the vehicle.
By 2023, the battery electric vehicle market is expected to account for 15% of global light vehicle production (according to S&P Global Mobility’s January 2023 projections), up from 11% in 2022 and 7% in 2021.
Electric vehicle
According to the Frost & Sullivan Report, China’s current vehicle sales market is highly concentrated and consists of traditional car companies, internet technology companies and new energy car companies.
From a global perspective, U Power Limited argues that the rapid growth of new energy automobile companies has created certain threats to traditional automobile companies, which prompted traditional automobile companies to create new energy vehicle product lines to transit to the electric vehicle market.
Internet technology companies are also taking advantage of the opportunities in the new energy vehicle market.
According to the Frost & Sullivan Report, from 2016 to 2020, China’s vehicle sales volume declined from 27.9 million units to 25.1 million units, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of -2.7 percent. The decline in 2020 is due, in part, to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, the same source indicates that vehicle sales volume in China has benefited from the growth of the electric vehicle market, while it is expected to increase from 26.1 million units in 2021 to 30.0 million units in 2026, representing a CAGR of 2.8 percent.
