Local time on Thursday, Jato Dynamics, an automotive data analysis institution, said in its latest report that with Chinese domestic automobile brands led by BYD expanding robustly in global markets, China's brand automobile sales surpassed those of American brands for the first time last year, ranking third in the world.

Tesla's Model Y became the best-selling model of the year in the past year, and also the first pure electric vehicle to occupy the top position on the global best-selling models list. At the same time, three models under BYD entered the top 25 of global best-selling models.

Chinese brand automobile sales exceeded US brands for the first time last year.

According to JATO Dynamics' data and estimates for 151 markets worldwide, the global automotive industry will experience strong growth in 2023. A total of 78.32 million new passenger cars were sold worldwide last year, an increase of nearly 7 million from 2022, with a growth rate of 10%.

Data shows that Chinese brands led by BYD sold a total of 13.4 million new cars last year, while US brand automobile sales were about 11.9 million. This is the first time that Chinese automobile brand sales have surpassed those of the United States. However, Japanese automobile brands still lead the world in sales, with a total of 23.59 million new car sales last year.

In addition to the total sales volume, China's new car sales growth rate is much higher than the United States: Chinese brand automobile new car sales increased by 23% YoY last year, while the United States increased by only 9%.

Felipe Munoz, senior analyst at Jato Dynamics, said in the report: "The high prices of traditional car makers in the United States inadvertently prompted consumers to turn to more affordable Chinese alternatives."

Chinese brand automobile sales growth in emerging markets is stunning.

In 2023, new car sales in emerging markets are growing rapidly. Analysts point out that 22% of global new car sales came from emerging economies last year: "In 2023, new car sales in emerging economies will exceed 17.5 million, higher than the sales in the US or European markets."

In emerging market, Chinese electric vehicle brands like BYD are rapidly gaining market share with their price advantage, and last year, Chinese automobile brands accounted for one-fifth of new car sales in emerging economies.

The report states that Chinese automobile brands have achieved considerable market share in the Middle East, Eurasia, and Africa, and have also achieved growth in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Analysts pointed out in the report: "Due to the more relaxed access policies, lower trade barriers, and higher sensitivity to price by consumers in emerging economies, Chinese automobile brands have succeeded in emerging economies."

Chinese automobile brands' sales in Western markets are also growing.

Despite trade frictions between China and the West, Chinese automobile brands still achieved growth in Western markets last year.

Analysts pointed out that some Chinese automobile brands' market share in developed economies such as Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel increased last year. However, the acceptance of Chinese automobile brands in the United States, Japan, and South Korea is still relatively low.

Overall, except for Africa, Chinese brand automobile sales increased in all regions around the world last year. Moreover, due to the strong demand for Chinese brand automobile in Turkey, Chinese brand automobile sales grew the fastest in the European market.

Tesla's Model Y became the world's best-selling model.

From the global best-selling models list, Tesla's Model Y made history last year: the medium-sized SUV topped the list of global sales, becoming the first pure electric vehicle to lead the global market.

Model Y sold 1.22 million units worldwide last year, an increase of 64% from 2022 and 480,000 more than in 2021. This makes the Model Y's sales surpass traditional best-selling models like the Toyota RAV4 and Corolla, which had sales of 1.07 million units and 803,000 units last year, respectively.

BYD Company Limited became the top-ranked Chinese automotive brand on the global best-selling vehicle list, with its three models included in the top 25. According to statistics, Qin sold a total of 473,000 units last year, which grew by 43% YoY. Song sold 369,000 units last year, and Yuan Plus sold 355,000 units last year.

Among the top 25 models on the list, there are 13 Japanese models, 5 American models, 3 Chinese models, 2 South Korean models, and 2 European models.