Australian vehicle sales in 2023 reached a record high of 1.22 million units on the back of increased product supply.

Of these, 200,000 units were made in China, boosted by tax incentives for BEVs. Since 2020, the global automotive industry has suffered from the market decline caused by the Corona disaster, stock shortages due to production cuts caused by the shortage of semiconductors and the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war, etc. In 2023, the global 87-country automotive market is expected to grow by 7.4% (+6 million units) year-on-year to 86.5 million units.

The market recovery is particularly clear in the developed countries of Europe and the USA, partly due to latent demand after the market decline of the past few years. In the emerging economies, the Chinese market, the world’s largest, will remain flat at around 25 million units, but the expansion of the Indian market and the recovery of the Central and Eastern European markets have supported and maintained growth. On the other hand, when compared to 2019 results, the developed markets are still below the pre-Corona disaster level, down 10% (-5 million units), while the emerging markets have recovered to a slight decline (-500,000 units). Although the situation differs in each country and region, the focus in the future will be on the recovery of developed markets towards their pre-Corona disaster levels and the creation of new demand and expansion of scale in the emerging markets.

The market is expected to expand to 88.5 million units in 2024, 92 million units in 2025 and 95 million units in 2026. If there are no major changes in global market conditions, global vehicle sales could still exceed the record 2017 result (96.2 million units) in 2027.The key to global market expansion beyond 2024 will be the recovery and growth of emerging Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries. in January 2024, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will be joined by Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Although there are many unknowns in the cooperation between the countries, including the domestic political environment, situation and background, and the economic situation, the enlarged BRICS account for about 30% of the world’s GDP and more than 40% of the world’s population. In addition to a stronger political voice, there are driving forces and triggers for growth in each country’s market, and the impact on car sales needs to be closely monitored.

The report compiles basic statistics on production, sales, exports and other aspects of production, sales and exports, as well as automobile policies and economic conditions in more than 80 countries around the world, describes the state of the automobile market and production in 2023 by country, and reports on future prospects. The report also organises and explains related statistics, focusing on electric vehicle sales in the world’s major regions and countries.