Asia Tech Wire (Aug 16) -- Global sales of electric vehicles, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), rose 21% in July, driven by the Chinese market.

Market research firm Rho Motion said Monday that global EV sales rose 21% year-on-year to 1.35 million units in July, thanks to China's strongest growth so far this year, despite falling demand in Europe.

Among them, EV sales in China were 880,000 units, up 31% from a year earlier.

BYD, China's largest EV maker, reported 13% and 44% growth in global BEV and PHEV sales, respectively, this July.

In Europe, EV sales fell 7.8% in July, and sales in the first seven months of this year were essentially the same as in 2023.

And the EU's largest EV market, Germany, saw EV sales decline in the first seven months of the year as well, with a 12% drop.

The decline in EV sales in the EU region is partly driven by the EU's recent imposition of provisional tariffs on imports of Chinese-made EVs, but also related to weak consumption of EVs in the local market and the rollback of government subsidies.

According to the European Commission, BYD faces a tariff of 17.4%, Geely 19.9%, and SAIC's MG Motor 37.6%. Of these, MG Motor is thought likely to be hardest hit by the provisional tariffs because of its sizeable market share in Europe.

In contrast, Tesla and BYD are likely to be less affected. After all, Tesla can localize production at its Berlin factory, and BYD still has a small market share in Europe.

Sales of electric vehicles in the U.S. and Canada rose 7.1% in July.