China's BYD gears up to topple Tesla as world's top EV maker

Chinese automotive giant BYD has moved one step closer to topple Elon Musk run Tesla as the world’s top EV manufacturer, after the Shenzhen based company sold a record 526,000 electric vehicles in October December 2023. For the entire year, BYD sold more than 3 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug in hybrids, it announced.

Overall, the Chinese company sold about 3.02 million vehicles in 2023, an increase of about 62 per cent from the year prior. It sold about 1.6 million battery EVs and about 1.4 million plug in hybrid EVs. In comparison, Tesla sold around 483,000 electric vehicles in the October December period and 1.82 million for the entire 2023, according to industry estimates.

BYD last year announced plans to build a manufacturing plant in Hungary. Meanwhile, the global passenger battery electric vehicle (BEV) unit sales increased by 29 per cent (year on year) in the third quarter (July September period) this year. The annual BEV sales are expected to reach almost 10 million in 2023, according to Counterpoint Research.

Tesla, BYD Auto and Volkswagen AG were the top selling BEV groups. “China still holds 58 per cent of the global BEV market, with the US taking around 12 per cent. Germany, the third biggest BEV market, also grew more than 60 per cent annually,” said senior analyst Soumen Mandal..