Tesla Motors, long the king of electric vehicles (EV), has been surpassed in quarterly sales by Chinese company BYD for the first time. BYD reported sales of 526,000 fully-electric vehicles in quarter four (Q4) 2023, while Tesla only sold about 485,000 in that same timeframe.
Tesla delivered a total of 1.81 million vehicles globally in 2023. It hit its annual target, but there was a slight slowdown in its rate of growth (only 38 percent higher than 2022…). It remained ahead of BYD in terms of full-year sales. BYD sold 1.6 million vehicles last year, which was an increase of 70 percent from where they were in 2022.
The performance of the Chinese firm in the first half of 2024 will reveal if the surge was just a fluke.
According to The Wall Street Journal, there is hesitancy among investors concerning the demand for EVs in general, which could impact Tesla’s financial bottom line.
BYD has stolen Tesla's crown as the global No. 1 in electric vehicle sales
Bloomberg's Danny Lee explains how the Chinese automaker overtook Elon Musk's EV giant https://t.co/RiSFCadubX pic.twitter.com/UzCHZcEiCm
— Bloomberg (@business) January 3, 2024
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BYD was founded in 1995 as a manufacturer of batteries, and it has risen to the top of China’s electric automaking industry, which includes both EVs and plug-ins. Chinese automakers tend to introduce EVs to the market faster than their Western counterparts. BYD’s vehicles are also more affordable than Tesla’s, and while the Chinese company has not breached the American market yet, it is currently breaking into Europe.
China’s electric vehicle market is taking off, which is encouraging other tech companies to get into the ring. For instance, Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi recently announced its plans to start producing EVs and compete with Tesla.
Tesla’s cheapest available car is the Model 3, which starts around $39,000 in the U.S. It plans to release an even cheaper car in its next generation.
Despite BYD’s achievement of 3.02 million vehicles sold this year (the 1.6 million battery-powered vehicles plus 1.4 million hybrids), it missed the target of 3.05 million vehicles set by capital market firm CLSA.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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