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BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s largest maker of pure electric cars in fourth quarter
BYD Auto, China’s electric vehicle (EV) king, was the world’s biggest seller of pure electric cars in the fourth quarter of 2024, as Tesla’s sales for the period fell short of expectations.
Shenzhen-based BYD beat Austin, Texas-based Tesla by more than 20 per cent in terms of deliveries. In the fourth quarter, BYD delivered 595,412 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to customers, up 13.1 per cent from a year earlier. The company, which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a shareholder, also sold 918,556 plug-in hybrid cars (PHEVs) in the fourth quarter, up 120.7 per cent from a year earlier.
Elon Musk’s Tesla delivered 495,570 vehicles globally in the fourth quarter, falling short of a consensus forecast of 512,277 vehicles, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Tesla’s deliveries were up 2.3 per cent from a year earlier and 7.1 per cent from the third quarter. All Teslas are BEVs.
“BYD has a strong product line-up whose cheaper BEV models are attractive to more middle- and low-income consumers worldwide,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based electric-car data provider CnEVPost. “It is set to retain the title as the world’s largest BEV maker this year.”
BYD, best known for its cheaper models ranging in price from around 80,000 yuan (US$10,960) to 200,000 yuan, has been a top beneficiary of the breakneck pace of vehicle electrification in China over the past decade. It delivered 4.27 million pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles last year, up 41.3 per cent from a year earlier. It was also expected to surpass Volkswagen (VW) to become the country’s largest carmaker – including EVs and petroleum-powered vehicles – in 2024. VW has yet to release its full-year sales figures.
For the first time ever, Tesla, viewed as an assembler of premium electric cars, reported an annual decline in deliveries. They fell 1.1 per cent from a year earlier to 1.79 million units, the company said. Its New York-listed shares slumped 6 per cent to US$379.28 on Thursday after chalking up a gain of 61 per cent in 2024.
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