Signals from Industry Investment, Global Industry Shifts, Execution and Emerging Growth Models

 

The global electric vehicle (EV) market is entering a more mature and progressive phase of alignment and development. Following a decade of rapid expansion driven by accelerated technological progress, regulatory support, and early-adopter demand, electrification is increasingly defined by execution capability, capital alignment, and structural readiness, rather than ambition alone.

 

By the end of 2025, global EV sales exceeded 15 million units annually, with EVs accounting for approximately 20–22% of global new passenger vehicle sales. Market leadership has become more concentrated: BYD overtook Tesla in 2025 to become the world’s largest battery-electric vehicle seller, while a small group of OEMs including BYD, Tesla, Geely, and Volkswagen Group now accounts for  a significant share of global EV volumes.

 

On the supply side, concentration is even more pronounced. CATL and BYD together supply more than half of global EV battery installations, with LG Energy Solution, Panasonic, and Samsung SDI anchoring much of the remaining large-scale capacity. This concentration underscores where source market, global scaling, pricing power, and supply-chain leverage increasingly fuel the growth, and reside within the EV ecosystem.

 

Over the same period, battery pack costs have declined by approximately 80% since the early 2010s, materially improving total cost of ownership and reinforcing the long-term economic rationale for electrification. Despite this progress, value creation is no longer driven by cost curves or headline adoption targets alone.

 

Importantly, this market recalibration is occurring alongside not instead of continued large-scale investment across the EV value chain.

 

Market Maturity Is Driving Geographic Recalibration

 

In the most established and infrastructure ready EV markets, growth is transitioning toward normalisation. China which continues to represent over half of global EV production and sales has entered a phase characterised by intense competition, pricing pressure, and margin compression. Pricing actions by manufacturers such as BYD and Tesla reflect a shift toward efficiency, scale optimisation, and export competitiveness rather than rapid domestic expansion.

 

As penetration increases and competitive intensity rises, value creation increasingly depends on geographic diversification, supply-chain resilience, and operational efficiency. For global OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers, incremental growth is less likely to come from deeper saturation of mature markets and more likely to emerge from differentiated regional participation.

 

Implication for industry stakeholders:
Future growth strategies will increasingly depend on aligning market presence with each geography’s structural role within the global EV ecosystem

The EV demand market, manufacturing hub, export platform, or innovation centre will be key focus area of strategy, rather than pursuing uniform global expansion models.

 

Capital Is Becoming More Selective and More Substantial

 

Capital allocation trends reinforce this recalibration. While early-stage venture investment has moderated, overall capital deployment across vehicles, batteries, infrastructure, and energy systems remains historically elevated.

 

Globally, OEMs and supply-chain leaders including Volkswagen Group, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Stellantis, and leading Chinese OEMs have committed more than $300 billion in cumulative EV and electrification investment through the end of the decade, spanning vehicle platforms, battery manufacturing, software, and production capacity. Battery manufacturers alone are investing well over $100 billion globally in new cell production and Gigafactory expansion.

 

Investment in charging infrastructure is scaling in parallel. By 2025, global public charging points exceeded five million, supported by private capital and public funding programmes, particularly in the United States and Europe. Proprietary networks operated by OEMs and infrastructure specialists including Tesla’s Supercharger network alongside expanding open access operators are increasingly shaping utilisation and service models.

 

In Saudi Arabia, EV investment is embedded within a broader industrial-transformation agenda. Sovereign-backed capital is supporting vehicle manufacturing, charging infrastructure, R&D, supply-chain localisation, and workforce development, underpinned by multi-decade planning horizons.

 

Implication for investors and OEMs:
Electrification continues to attract large-scale capital, but returns are increasingly shaped by execution environments, policy alignment, and ecosystem coordination, rather than headline growth alone.

As Investment flows towards next generations EV & Mobility Solutions, this only further accelerate the New Tech Adoption in the EV Ecosystem, which will have a direct impact on traditional ICE sector.

 

Execution Is Now as Important as Ambition

 

While most markets have articulated EV targets, differentiation increasingly depends on execution. Markets demonstrating momentum typically exhibit sustained infrastructure rollout, regulatory clarity, and coordinated public–private implementation.

 

The United Arab Emirates illustrates this execution-led model. Regulatory clarity, visible charging-infrastructure deployment, and integration of electrification into broader urban mobility planning including nationwide public charging expansion and fleet pilots have enabled faster uptake than might be expected in a hydrocarbon-based economy.

 

Fleet electrification is emerging as a key indicator of execution maturity. Globally, commercial EV deployments are scaling faster than private passenger adoption, with fleet operators achieving 30–50% lower operating costs per kilometre in many use cases.

 

Implication for ecosystem partners:
Execution readiness rather than policy ambition alone increasingly determines where EV deployment can scale commercially.

The GCC wide New Smart City Ecosystem is a game changer for EV & Mobility System integration at the foundation level and above, and this is tremendous gift for EV adoption in all aspects.

 

Supply Chains Are Being Rewritten

 

The EV transition is unfolding alongside broader supply-chain reconfiguration driven by geopolitics, trade-policy shifts, and localisation initiatives. OEMs & suppliers are reassessing manufacturing footprints to improve resilience & reduce concentration risk.

 

In Morocco, automotive production approaches 700,000 vehicles annually, with domestic integration exceeding 60% and automotive exports accounting for more than 20% of GDP. These attributes position the country as a strategically relevant EV manufacturing and export platform, independent of domestic EV demand.

 

Implication for OEM supply chains:
Manufacturing diversification is becoming a baseline requirement for competitiveness rather than a contingency strategy.

The cost-effective baseline for supply chain, makes the EV & Mobility implementation an important prospect that not only guarantees credible ROI, but seamless integration.

The EV Ecosystem Is Expanding Beyond OEMs

 

As electrification scales, fleet operators, charging-infrastructure providers, and energy system players are emerging as influential stakeholders alongside OEMs, investors, and governments.

 

Fleet operators provide predictable, high-utilisation demand. Charging providers increasingly function as system integrators, while energy providers and grid operators are becoming central as smart charging, renewable integration, and vehicle to grid capabilities gain importance.

 

The full-scale EV & Mobility ecosystem is integrated, connected, transferable & provides genuine efficiency through the channels. This is far beyond the OEM’s as they are just one important element of the full-scale industry which grow at even greater pace then a decade before.

 

Implication for the broader ecosystem:
Electrification is no longer OEM-centric. Durable growth depends on coordination across vehicles, infrastructure, fleets, and energy systems.

 

OEM’s were only the spark for EV & Mobility Renaissance, a greater industry has been developed from this humbling beginnings.

 

What the Market Is Really Signalling

Taken together, these developments point to a clear conclusion: The global EV market is undergoing redistribution rather than deceleration. Growth is becoming more execution led, more geographically differentiated, and more dependent on alignment between capital, policy, infrastructure, and energy systems.

 

Strategic Considerations for OEMs and Ecosystem Partners
  • OEMs: Align market entry and product portfolios with regional structural roles
  • Investors: Prioritise execution environments and policy continuity over headline market size
  • Fleet operators: Act as early-scale anchors shaping infrastructure and energy demand
  • Infrastructure providers: Focus on utilisation, interoperability, and grid alignment
  • Governments: Shift from target-setting toward execution credibility and ecosystem coordination

 

A More Durable Phase of Growth

 

The next phase of EV adoption will be defined by integration, capital discipline, and operational execution. Markets that align industrial policy, infrastructure development, fleet deployment, and energy-system coordination are likely to capture disproportionate value. This evolution may generate fewer headlines, but it represents a more durable foundation for long-term industry growth.

 

Contact Information: 

Zahoor Ahmed

Vice President

MIE Events Group

 

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