BYD Lead EV Sales In Singapore - EV Uptake Still Low At Only 1.2%

According to The Singapore Times, BYD has had a fantastic year thus far, surpassing Tesla as Singapore's top-selling battery-powered brand in the first five months of 2023.

Based on the most recent Land Transport Authority (LTA) figures, BYD registered 303 electric vehicles from January to May, followed by Tesla (283 registrations) and BMW (249). Private-hire operators accounted for around 20% of BYD sales.

Opel and Volvo have also reached the top ten bestsellers list. Opel’s EV replaced Bluecar in the electric car-sharing firm BlueSG as the latter cessed supply. Volvo on the other hand, which ranks sixth has surpassed Audi.

Most of the brands on the bestseller list have lost market share being the largest at 4.7%. According to observers, this could be due to the decline in the brand's uniqueness coupled with intense rivalry from other brands in the EV segment.

However, the drop in sales figures is not something unique to Singapore as Reuters had earlier reported that Tesla's sales has been on a decline prompting the brand to lower its prices six times during the year and also launch its first-ever advertising campaign, which was shot in Singapore.

Furthermore, according to LTA data, 1,462 electric vehicles that were registered in the first five months of 2023, accounted for 13.4% of overall registrations. This was an increase of 11.7% from 2022. As of the end of May, there were 7,961 electric cars on the road, accounting for only 1.2% of the total Singaporean car population. This somehow also indicates that, just like in Malaysia, EV adoption in Singapore remains modest when compared to other Asian countries like Thailand. 

Source: The Straits Times