Chinese auto giant, BYD, has overtaken Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s top maker of electric cars.
According to a statement by BYD, it produced a total of 3.02m new energy vehicles in 2023. The figure is higher than Tesla’s output of 1.84m cars within the same period. This figure includes 1.6m battery-only cars and 1.4m hybrids.
In the final quarter of 2023, BYD outsold Tesla in battery-only cars – 526,000 to 484,000 – for the first time.
Most of BYD’s vehicles sell at a lower price point than Tesla, which derives about 20% of its sales from the Chinese market.
This development is in alignment with the business aspiration of Chinese automakers whose sights are set on becoming major international players.
China’s top-selling electric carmaker is targeting sales of about 800,000 cars annually in Europe by 2030. However, these goals could be under threat after the European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation last September into Chinese electric vehicle imports.
Chinese electric carmakers such as BYD and Nio have set their sights on becoming major players in international markets, with a particular focus on Europe. In December, BYD, which sells five models in Europe and has plans to launch three more this year, announced plans to build a new factory in Hungary. Last year, the company said it did not consider building its first European factory in the UK because of the impact of Brexit. BYD said the UK had not even made a top 10 list of possible locations to build its first European car plant.
The Hong Kong-listed BYD, which was founded by a former university professor, Wang Chuanfu, and began developing batteries in 1995, intends to become a global powerhouse in the electric vehicle market.
