's sales are still largely coming from China for now, and will further challenge the top players when sales improve in overseas markets, TrendForce said.

BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) was the world's fifth-largest automaker by sales in July and the only one in the top 10 that sells only new energy vehicles (NEVs), a new report showed.

In July, global auto sales, including internal combustion engine vehicles and NEVs, were 5.44 million units, down 10 percent from June, market research firm TrendForce said in a September 1 report.

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The report, which tallied vehicle sales in 37 markets including the US, Canada, Brazil, China, India, Japan and South Korea, showed the top 10 carmakers collectively accounted for 50.7 percent of the total, a 2.3-percentage-point improvement from June's.

Toyota's sales slipped 5 percent in July from June, but it remained the world's largest carmaker with a 10.2 percent share.

Volkswagen, whose July sales were down 13 percent from June, largely due to its slumping sales in Europe and China, continued in second place with a 6.6 percent share.

Honda and Ford were third and fourth, with global shares of 5.0 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, in July.

BYD was fifth, with a 4.7 percent share, and is the only brand in the top 10 that sells only NEVs, TrendForce said, adding that BYD's share and ranking are both rising fast.

BYD's sales are still mainly from China, so it will further challenge the top players when sales in overseas markets improve, the report said.

BYD ceased production and sales of cars powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March 2022, switching to a focus on producing plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

BEVs and PHEVs now each contribute about half of BYD's sales mix. The company sold 1,792,184 NEVs in January-August, including 1,783,352 passenger cars and 8,832 commercial vehicles, according to its previously announced figures.

Of BYD's January-August passenger car sales, BEVs contributed 50.31 percent at 897,220 units and PHEVs contributed 49.69 percent at 886,132 units.

Separately, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and BYD are the top 2 players in the global BEV market, according to an August 31 report by Counterpoint Research, another market research firm.

Tesla's share of the global BEV market was 20 percent in the second quarter, and BYD's was 15 percent, according to Counterpoint.

BYD sells record 274,386 NEVs in Aug, including 25,023 overseas