Chinese automakers continued to dominate the global electric vehicle market in the first half of 2026, with six companies together holding more than 60% of global EV sales. Global EV sales, including plug-in hybrids, reached 8.847 million units in the period, up 2.6% from a year earlier, according to industry data reported by Seoul Economic Daily.
BYD held first place with 2.29 million units, followed by Geely Group in second with 1.127 million units. SAIC Motor ranked fourth with 752,000 units, Chery sixth with 579,000, Leapmotor seventh with 417,000 and Changan Group ninth with 339,000.
Combined sales at the six companies rose 11.6% from a year earlier to 5.504 million units, lifting their share of global sales to 62.3% from 57.2%. Tesla ranked third with 1.02 million units, up 24.2% from a year earlier, while Volkswagen Group was fifth with 650,000 units and Hyundai Motor Group placed eighth with 358,000 units.
Chinese encroachment on key markets is set to intensify, with Zeekr beginning full-scale sales of its 7X in Korea in October and Xpeng and Chery preparing to enter the market.
