After a phenomenal final quarter of 2023 where BYD became the world number one in electric cars ahead of Tesla, the month of January is much calmer. With almost 50% fewer electric car sales compared to December, could the Chinese brand already lose its throne? Let’s decipher.
The news made the headlines: the Chinese manufacturer BYD dethroned Tesla in sales figures for electric cars in the fourth quarter of 2023. Certainly, Elon Musk’s brand remains (quite significantly) ahead in the year to date, but the symbol remains strong.
A fleeting victory? This is what one might think when reading BYD’s sales figures in January 2024, relayed by Car News China, with sales of electric cars almost halved compared to December. Certain signals still show evidence of vitality.
105,304 sales
Of BYD’s 201,493 global sales as of January 2024, only 105,304 of them were electric cars. The other half concerned the brand’s plug-in hybrid models (PHEV), which should also arrive in France soon.
Sales far behind the fairly phenomenal results of December 2023, which totaled 190,754 registrations. We can console ourselves by noting that they are still 47% higher than the 71,338 sales made in January 2023, but this comparison is a little biased. The Chinese New Year actually took place there at this time last year, inevitably causing fewer sales.
However, two secondary figures should be noted. The first is exports, which are skyrocketing: 36,174 sales in January 2024, compared to 10,408 a year earlier (+ 247%!). The second is that BYD’s best seller remains the little Seagull, with 33,447 units sold in one month.
A very special end to 2023
We could therefore wonder if December 2023 was not an exception. The article indeed gives us some details that could go in this direction.
BYD had set itself the objective of selling at least 3 million cars in 2023, all energy sources combined, and it achieved it… but not without difficulty. Dealers have clearly been strongly encouraged to sell off stocks in December 2023, including via a bonus system (Car News China suggests an incentive of 666 yuan, or approximately 86 euros, per in-stock model sold).
In short, a very different start to the year from previous months. It will therefore be interesting to know how Tesla did over this period… and, above all, who will win the registration race in 2024.