Manufacturers sold 1.7 million plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles globally in September, breaking a previous record set in December 2023, according to the research report. “This record-breaking month brings new hope to the industry,” Charles Lester, Rho Motion’s data manager, said in a statement. The 1.7 million EVs sold in September represents growth of 30.5% year on year.

But Lester also pointed to “astonishing” regional disparities. More than 60% of September’s sales came from the world’s second-largest economy, where consumers bought 1.1 million EVs.

The firm said that 11.5 million EVs were sold in the first nine months of the year, up 22% from the same period a year ago. Chinese buyers purchased 7.2 million EVs over the same period, up 35%. 

Chinese brands go overseas

China’s EV makers are now venturing overseas in search of new sales, but international politics is complicating their expansion plans. 

The European Union, the U.K., and the four countries in the European Free Trade Association represent the second-largest EV market, after China. But the region is reporting a slowdown in EV adoption, with just 2.2 million vehicles sold in the first nine months of the year, a 4% year-on-year drop.

Chinese EV makers now also need to contend with new tariffs that can reach as high as 35%, on top of the existing 10% import duty. The EU imposed the new trade duties to counter allegedly unfair state subsidies for China’s EV sector. 

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Publicly, European officials like Ursula von der Leyen say that negotiations with Beijing will continue; both sides have until the end of the month to reach a deal. Yet an unnamed senior EU official told Reuters that it would be “​​very, very difficult” to find common ground by the deadline. 

The U.S. and Canada were in third place, behind China and Europe, with 1.3 million units in sales. 

But Chinese manufacturers could find comfort in strong EV sales growth in emerging markets. Rho Motion reported 900,000 units sold between January and September in markets other than China, Europe, the U.S., and Canada. That figure equals 25% year-on-year growth. “Chinese manufacturers continue to grow their presence abroad with strong EV exports to other Asian countries and Latin America,” the report noted.

Analysts have pointed to Southeast Asia as a promising region for China’s EV brands. Chinese manufacturers don’t face the same import barriers in markets like Thailand compared with Europe and North America. Chinese brands like BYD are already making inroads into markets like Singapore and Malaysia. BYD has also invested in a factory in Thailand.