The Chinese automaker has surpassed Tesla in electric vehicle sales for the first time, a sign of China’s rise in the global electric vehicle market.
The Chinese manufacturer BYD has overtaken its American competitor Tesla by delivering more electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023 worldwide, a pole position that it should maintain thanks to the strong support of the Chinese authorities which is boosting the local market.
The American manufacturer announced on Tuesday that it had delivered 484,507 electric vehicles in the last quarter of 2023, compared to 525,409 during the same period for BYD.
On the other hand, Tesla remained the leader for the whole year with around 1.81 million electric vehicles sold to its customers worldwide, thus meeting its expectations and slightly exceeding Wall Street estimates.
More expensive Tesla vehicles
According to the company, the vast majority of vehicles it produced last year, 96% or 1,775,159 units, were Model 3 and ModelY. The remainder, approximately 70,826, consisted mainly of Model X and Model Smore expensive.
In December, Tesla began delivering a small number of units of its Cybertruck pickup truck. For comparison, BYD sold nearly 1.6 million electric vehicles last year, a 70% increase from 2022.
Tesla’s good figures show that the brand still enjoys great popularity despite the image of CEO Elon Musk, criticized for his comments on social media and the belligerent stance he has adopted towards unions, regulators and customers.
Elon Musk recently claimed that by 2024, Tesla will see growth “faster” than any other automotive company in the world.
Rapid growth of BYD
BYD’s rapid growth, backed by famous American investor Warren Buffett, reflects the strength of China’s electric vehicle sector.
BYD, a leader in China’s power sector and the world’s third-largest manufacturer of batteries for electric cars, recently set its sights on the European market by building a production plant in Hungary to avoid any trade restrictions.