BYD said Tuesday it sold a record 525,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the three months ended Dec. 31. Tesla said it delivered 484,507 - also a record - during the quarter.
For the full year, Elon Musk's Tesla still outsold BYD, selling 1.8 million electric vehicles. BYD sold 1.57 million electric vehicles, up 73% year over year, and 1.44 million hybrids.
But that does mean that Tesla's gap over its Chinese rival, at about 230,000 units in 2023, will be significantly narrower than the 400,000 units it posted in 2022.
BYD's impressive performance in 2023 will be partly due to its expanding exports. China is projected to become the world's largest vehicle exporter in 2023, thanks to brands like BYD, which saw a 334 percent year-over-year increase in vehicle sales to foreign markets.
In total, the automaker sold 242,765 vehicles in 70 countries. BYD, along with other brands from China, is aggressively expanding into major global auto markets, including Europe. Its impact on the continent's automakers is so significant that Europe is now investigating Chinese government subsidies and considering its own measures in response.
Source: CNN
