BYD is confidently increasing the gap from Tesla and other electric car manufacturers – according to the results of 2023, the Chinese auto giant sold about 3.02 million new cars, which is a solid 61.9% higher than the result of 2022. Of these, 1.6 million are pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and the rest are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
In December alone, BYD shipped 340,178 vehicles, including 190,754 all-electric models, and total BEV sales for the final quarter of 2023 were 526,409 units. This means that BYD expectedly overtook Tesla and became the new world leader in sales of electric cars. Last year, Tesla shipped about 484,500 cars to customers (for the whole of 2023 — the target is 1.8 million units), and produced a little less than 500,000. At the same time, so far 97% are the younger models Model 3 and Model Y. Faster after all, BYD will become #1 in 2024.
This is the first time that Tesla has ceded leadership in the electric car segment at the end of the quarter, and if hybrids are taken into account, BYD has held the lead since the third quarter of 2021. The fact that BYD stopped producing cars with internal combustion engines in 2022 and now offers half a dozen massive and well-balanced models, much cheaper than Tesla’s offers, played a significant role in this.
Sales dynamics of BYD electric cars over the previous 6 years
As previously mentioned, China is now the largest market for electric vehicles (sales of new electric vehicles rose 40% year-to-date to 7.75 million units, according to a December estimate by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) and exports more vehicles than any other country. . At the same time, BYD, the largest Chinese manufacturer, is projected to enter the top 10 largest automakers by the end of 2023.
10 largest car manufacturers according to the results of 2023
And while the EU sees Chinese electric cars as a threat to its own auto industry and conducts an anti-subsidy investigation that risks turning into an EU trade war with China, by analogy with the confrontation between the US and China, the market leader BYD continues its aggressive expansion in the EU, plans to build a new power plant in Hungary . BYD is also preparing new third-generation electric cars for 2024, which will be distinguished primarily by the latest technologies, including autonomous driving systems. Meanwhile, Geely, China’s second-largest automaker, plans to sell 1.9 million cars in 2024 (in 2023, the company’s sales increased by 18% to 1.69 million cars).
It is expected that by the end of 2023, global sales of new electric cars (“pure” BEVs + PHEV hybrids) will amount to 14-15 million – against 13.75 million in 2022. And their share in the total volume will increase to 7% against 1% in 2020.
Tesla, BYD and “traditional” manufacturers. Electric cars are on the way to a new record — sales this year will reach 14 million. When is the end of DVZ?
