Some of the world’s leading car makers are among the exhibitors at IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich this week, where the electric future of mobility will once again take center stage. While German legacy car brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW will try to make an impression on their home turf, they have fallen behind in the transition to electric cars lately, as they understandably continue to work on international combustion engines as well, while smaller, more specialized companies such as Tesla and Chinese market leader BYD have raced ahead.

In the first half of 2023, BYD alone sold almost 1.2 million plug-in electric vehicles (incl. plug-in hybrids), roughly double the combined total of BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes. To make things worse for Germany’s automotive heavyweights (and other European carmakers), the company that recently surpassed Volkswagen as the number 1 car brand in China now has Europe in its sight. On Monday, BYD presented six models for the European market in Munich, showing that it means business in the market it entered less than a year ago. 

Between January and July, the company sold 92,469 EVs overseas, already exceeding the total of 2022.

It remains to be seen, however, how European consumers respond to the Chinese newcomer, as there is still a bit of a stigma attached to cars made in China, especially in Germany, which prides itself on its automotive excellency. The following chart, based on estimates from CleanTechnica, shows that BYD and Tesla have opened up a sizeable lead in the global EV market, where other Chinese brands such as GAC Aion, SGMW and Li Auto are also among the largest players thanks to their huge home market.