China’s BYD moves closer to unseating Tesla as EV leader

Could Tesla soon lose its title of the biggest EV seller to China's BYD? Photo / Andy Jackson

Chinese group BYD has moved a step closer to unseating Tesla as the world’s top-selling electric-vehicle manufacturer after reporting bumper fourth-quarter sales.

The Shenzhen-based company, which has become emblematic of China’s rise as a powerhouse in clean technology, said on Monday that it sold a record 526,000 of its battery-only vehicles in the quarter, helped by a more than 70 per cent surge in December sales.

The figures leave Elon Musk’s Tesla needing to beat analyst expectations and deliver a blockbuster fourth quarter to maintain its position as the biggest seller of purely electric vehicles.

According to estimates compiled by Bloomberg, Tesla is expected to have sold about 483,000 vehicles in the quarter. The company is set to release production figures.

At the end of the third quarter, BYD and Tesla each boasted about a 17 per cent share of the global market for fully electric cars. In the third quarter, BYD sold about 432,000 versus Tesla’s 435,000.

When including plug-in hybrid vehicles — which China counts as “new energy vehicles”, or NEVs, alongside pure battery and hydrogen-powered models — BYD overtook Tesla in the first half of 2022.

While BYD is now making inroads into international markets, the group is strongest on home turf where it has built a 35 per cent market share across the NEV segment.

BYD was founded by Wang Chuanfu, a former university professor, in the mid-1990s. Wang initially focused on making rechargeable batteries, including for early cellphones, but expanded into the car industry in the early 2000s. The company counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a shareholder.

After initially relying on existing industry technology, BYD is now considered a leader, with a focus on stripping out costs from the production process. It also boasts a high level of vertical integration, including owning one of the world’s biggest EV battery-making companies.

The group’s total sales for 2023 were up 62 per cent to more than 3 million vehicles, according to the figures released on Monday.

While much attention has focused on the rivalry between Tesla and BYD, analysts have also pointed out that the biggest losers from the rapid transition to cleaner vehicles has been many of the oldest carmakers who have been slow to adapt.

Daniel Roeska, an auto analyst with Bernstein, said that consumers had perceived a “chasm” between the industry leaders — Tesla and BYD — and the “traditional [original equipment manufacturers]” such as Volkswagen, Mercedes or Renault.

“Many incumbent OEMs rushed into electric vehicles without appreciating the far-reaching technological and design difference between combustion and electric vehicles,” he said.

© Financial Times