An updated edition of the July 31, 2026, article.
The global automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation as electrification and autonomous driving reshape how vehicles are developed and used. These trends are creating new growth opportunities across the broader mobility ecosystem, from automakers and semiconductor companies to lidar and autonomous-driving technology providers.
EVs Move Further Into the Mainstream
Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction globally as improving battery technology delivers longer driving ranges, charging networks continue to expand and ownership economics become competitive with traditional internal-combustion vehicles. Higher fuel prices, partly influenced by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, are also improving the relative appeal of EVs.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global EV sales rose 20% year over year to more than 20 million units in 2025, accounting for roughly one in four new vehicles sold worldwide. The IEA expects sales to reach 23 million units in 2026, bringing EVs close to 28% of global new-vehicle sales.
Growth is expected to remain particularly strong in China and Europe. EVs could account for nearly 60% of vehicle sales in China and approach one-third of new-car sales in Europe in 2026.
At the same time, the competitive landscape is changing. Tesla TSLA, which once dominated the global EV market, is facing intensifying competition as Chinese automakers expand their presence with broader product portfolios and increasingly competitive pricing.
Autonomous Driving Opens a New Growth Avenue
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are becoming another major growth opportunity as advances in artificial intelligence, sensors, cameras, computing power and connected-vehicle technologies make self-driving systems sophisticated.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global autonomous vehicle market is projected to grow from $3.36 trillion in 2025 to $4.44 trillion in 2026 and reach $41.75 trillion by 2034, representing a 32.3% CAGR from 2026 to 2034.
Companies across the technology and automotive ecosystems are investing heavily to capture this opportunity. Alphabet's GOOGL Waymo and Baidu are among the companies at the forefront of autonomous-driving development, while suppliers such as Mobileye, Hesai Group and Ouster are developing technologies that could support the industry's transition toward automated vehicles.
What This Means for Investors
For investors, EVs and AVs represent a strong long-term opportunity. They combine growth, innovation and rising demand. Our Electric Vehicles & Autonomous Driving Screen highlights companies positioned to benefit from these trends, including BYD Co Ltd. BYDDY, Albemarle Corporation ALB and Aeva Technologies, Inc. AEVA.
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BYD remains one of the strongest long-term growth stories in the global EV market, backed by technology leadership, cost advantages and an expanding international footprint.
At the core of its edge is a vertically integrated business model. BYD manufactures nearly 80% of key components, including batteries and semiconductors, in-house. That control over the supply chain gives it superior cost management and pricing flexibility, a meaningful advantage during industry price wars in China's crowded EV market. Layered on top of this is continued investment in next-generation technology — blade batteries, autonomous driving chips, LiDAR-equipped affordable EVs and ultra-fast charging.
BYD recently put that charging technology through a real-world stress test, running a Denza Z9GT through freezing conditions and still getting it up to 97% charge—an encouraging sign that its engineering claims can hold up outside lab conditions.
Overseas expansion is becoming an increasingly important growth lever. Having surpassed one million vehicle exports in 2025, BYD is targeting 1.6 million exports by 2026. Its push into Europe's premium segment through the Denza brand diversifies growth away from an increasingly saturated domestic market. BYD is also entering Japan's tightly held "kei" mini-car segment with Racco, the first purpose-built electric kei car from a non-Japanese automaker, targeting 10,000 orders by the end of 2026.
With scale, tech and global reach on its side, BYD looks set to keep outpacing rivals in the EV market. The company carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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Albemarle appears well-positioned to benefit as EV demand grows globally, thanks to a lithium resource base built to serve that demand and a pipeline of projects aimed at expanding it. Lithium demand is expected to grow on the back of significant global EV penetration, with Albemarle projecting 10-20% CAGR for lithium demand from 2025 to 2030.
ALB is strategically executing its projects to boost its global lithium conversion capacity, remaining focused on investing in high-return projects to drive productivity. Healthy customer demand, capacity expansion and plant productivity improvements are supporting its volumes.
The Salar yield improvement project in Chile has achieved a 50-60% operating rate, with the ramp-up continuing to deliver encouraging outcomes. In March 2026, Albemarle submitted the environmental assessment permit for a commercial direct lithium extraction (DLE) project at Salar de Atacama. The DLE pilot plant supports future growth at the site and has demonstrated lithium recoveries of more than 90%.
Meanwhile, the CGP3 expansion at the Greenbushes spodumene mine in Australia is underway and is expected to reach full production in the first quarter of 2027. Albemarle is also taking aggressive cost-saving and productivity actions across its operations.
Taken together, this combination of expanding low-cost capacity and improving resource efficiency leaves Albemarle well-placed to capture a growing share of long-term lithium demand as global EV adoption accelerates. ALB stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Aeva is positioned to benefit as autonomous driving and advanced driver-assistance systems demand more capable sensing technology, with LiDAR expanding beyond passenger cars into higher-level ADAS and commercial-vehicle autonomy.
A key proof point is Aeva's expanding footprint across both passenger and commercial platforms. In the second quarter of 2026, the company continued Atlas Ultra deliveries and integration work for a top-10 European passenger OEM, while also advancing engagements with additional automakers. On the commercial side, Bendix selected Aeva's 4D LiDAR and perception software for its next-generation Level 2+ ADAS system—a platform already available across most North American Class 8 trucks, representing a roughly 300,000-unit annual market and extending Aeva's reach into high-volume commercial applications.
Aeva is also embedding itself into the broader autonomous-driving ecosystem. Continued Atlas Ultra integration with NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion could open repeatable design-in opportunities as more OEMs standardize around common autonomous vehicle architectures, potentially lowering the incremental effort needed to win future programs.
On the manufacturing side, Aeva began producing production-intent Atlas sensors on a fully automated assembly line in North America during the quarter, while scaling shipments to Daimler Truck for AV-stack validation. This shift from development to production readiness strengthens the company's ability to support series production.
With design wins spanning passenger, commercial and autonomy platforms now moving into production, Aeva is building the scale needed to become a core sensing supplier for the AV era. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).