Fight for the top
BYD overtakes Tesla as number 1 at the end of the year
January 2, 2024, 5:21 p.m
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Tesla was once again the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars last year. In total, the group brings more than 1.8 million pure electric cars to customers and pushes its competitor BYD into second place. But the Chinese were ahead in the last quarter.
The Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD replaced its US rival Tesla as the world’s largest electric car manufacturer in the last quarter of the year. However, for the year as a whole, Tesla was still ahead. In total, the Chinese delivered 526,409 plug-only cars to customers between October and the end of December. Tesla sold 484,507 vehicles in the same period. At the same time, BYD produced more new pure electric vehicles. According to the information, 518,974 electric cars rolled off the assembly line in the three months. At Tesla’s factories there were 494,989 during this time.
According to its own information, Tesla released 1.81 million vehicles for the year as a whole. Over the year, this was 38 percent more. Tesla boss Elon Musk was aiming for around 1.8 million vehicles. The Model 3 and Model Y accounted for 1.74 million cars. Production meanwhile increased to 1.85 million cars.
BYD increased its sales last year by almost two thirds (62 percent) to three million vehicles. This includes both battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids. This involved around 1.57 million BEVs and 1.43 million plug-in hybrids.
BYD recently announced the construction of its first European car factory in Hungary. According to experts, this is intended to open up the European market in particular. The company currently has facilities in the USA, Brazil, Japan and India.
Discount battle and funding adjustment
Price reductions and an upcoming change in funding policy had recently driven sales of electric cars in China. In November alone, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), deliveries of electric cars and hybrid cars jumped by almost 40 percent and also accounted for 40 percent of total car sales. Since the beginning of the new year, price caps have been in effect for tax advantages when purchasing electric cars.
Tesla had fueled the price war at the beginning of last year, but later made a U-turn and raised its prices several times. According to CPCA data, the US group sold almost a fifth (18 percent) less in November than in the same month last year. The 82,000 Teslas sold in China were compared to more than 170,000 BYD models in China.