Blog

China’s BYD closer to taking Tesla's electric car top spot

Chinese company BYD has moved a step closer to toppling Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's biggest-selling manufacturer of electric vehicles.

The firm said on Monday it had sold a record 526,000 battery-only vehicles in the last three months of 2023. Electric Bus

China’s BYD closer to taking Tesla's electric car top spot

That was helped by a more than 70% surge in sales in December.

US-based Tesla is scheduled to release its latest quarterly vehicle production and delivery figures before Wall Street opens on Tuesday.

For the year as a whole, Shenzen-based BYD said it had sold more than 3 million so-called-new energy vehicles (NEVs), which includes battery-only vehicles and hybrids.

Almost 1.6 million of its total sales were battery-only vehicles, the firm said.

Industry analysts have forecast that Tesla sold around 483,000 electric vehicles in the last three months of 2023 and 1.82 million for the year as a whole.

Last January, Mr Musk said that Tesla had the potential to achieve 2 million deliveries in 2023 but had since warned that higher borrowing costs were putting pressure on demand for his company's cars.

BYD's chief executive Wang Chuanfu co-founded BYD with his cousin in Shenzhen in 1995.

The company made a name for itself as a manufacturer of rechargeable batteries - used in smartphones, laptops and other electronics - that competed with pricier Japanese imports.

It started selling its shares on the stock market in 2002 and diversified by purchasing a struggling state-owned car manufacturer, Qinchuan Automobile Company.

Since 2008 BYD has counted veteran US investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway as a shareholder.

Analysts say BYD owes its growth to its original business - batteries. They are among the most expensive parts of an EV and making them in-house saves BYD a lot of money.

Many of BYD's competitors rely on third-party manufacturers for batteries.

The RAC motoring organisation says the government has missed its target for installing charging points.

Visitors to a north Wales castle town will struggle to find a public charging point.

A scheme providing free or discounted parking for electric cars is to end in December 2024.

From an AI slowdown to humanoid robots doing real work - tech trends to watch out for in 2024.

Drivers will face a levy to top up their vehicles at stations from next month.

Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved.  The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.

Beta Terms By using the Beta Site, you agree that such use is at your own risk and you know that the Beta Site may include known or unknown bugs or errors, that we have no obligation to make this Beta Site available with or without charge for any period of time, nor to make it available at all, and that nothing in these Beta Terms or your use of the Beta Site creates any employment relationship between you and us. The Beta Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and we make no warranty to you of any kind, express or implied.

China’s BYD closer to taking Tesla's electric car top spot

Car Motor Electric In case of conflict between these Beta Terms and the BBC Terms of Use these Beta Terms shall prevail.