The last quarter of 2023 has seen BYD overtake Tesla as the world top selling electric vehicles manufacturer.
According to a stock exchange filing, the Chinese company recorded its highest-ever number of car sales, supplying 525,409 battery electric vehicles in the three-month period ending on December 31. In comparison, Tesla announced on Tuesday that they delivered 484,507 vehicles in the quarter, also a sales milestone for the company.
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Backed by U.S. investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, BYD has now outperformed Tesla in production for a second consecutive year.
However, it is worth noting that Tesla still experienced a higher volume of sales for the entire 2023, selling 1.8 million electric cars by the end of the year.
Despite falling short of Mr. Musk’s hopes of delivering two million vehicles in 2023, the end-of-year performance was better than analysts had expected.
A 20% increase in sales compared to 2022 represents notable growth for US manufacturer. Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities described this as a “clear win” for Tesla, as reported by the BBC.
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By GlobalDataOn the other hand, the CNN reported yesterday that BYD’s electric vehicle sales amounted to 1.57 million units, marking a 73% increase from 2022 and effectively reducing Tesla’s gap over its competitor to only 230,000 cars in 2023.
The news portrays the rapid growth of Chinese companies in the international electric vehicle market, backed by robust domestic growth, strategic government support, and a competitive edge in production costs.
However, not everything is good news for the industry as price wars have threatened the profitability of manufacturers in 2022.
As reported by the BBC, Tesla opted to reduce prices in China in January 2023. Whilst the decision aimed to address concerns over low growth prediction, it ended up instigating a price war as the numerous other automakers attempted to maintain competitiveness.
While the price war has resulted in increased sales, it also posed a threat to the overall profitability of the industry as margins reduced drastically.
