BYD sales top Tesla as tech focus wins over Chinese drivers

BYD doesn’t sell passenger cars in the US yet due to punitive tariffs on made-in-China automobiles, but it’s made big inroads into markets in Europe, places in Asia like Singapore and Thailand, as well as Australia. File picture

BYD’s sales last year surpassed the €92bn mark, leapfrogging Elon Musk’s Tesla on revenue, as the Chinese auto giant wows consumers with a range of electric and hybrid cars packed with high-tech features.

Shenzhen-based BYD reported revenue of 777 billion yuan (€98.7bn) last year, up 29%, according to a filing late Monday, beating estimates for 766 billion yuan. Tesla’s 2024 revenue was $97.7bn (€90.1bn). The Chinese EV maker’s net income rose 34% year-on-year to 40.3 billion yuan, beating analyst estimates for 39.5 billion yuan.

BYD has risen quickly to the top of China’s car market — the world’s biggest and most competitive in terms of electric vehicles. This year alone, BYD has unveiled a new ecosystem that allows EVs to charge for 400 kilometers in just five minutes and introduced advanced driver assistance technology in even its most basic models. Investors have sent its shares to a record and BYD’s Hong Kong-listed stock is up around 51% this year.

BYD also sells about the same number of EVs as Tesla — 1.76 million in 2024 versus 1.79 million — but, when all of its other passenger hybrid car sales are included, it’s much larger. BYD’s total deliveries last year climbed to 4.27 million, almost as much as Ford.

BYD has forecast it can sell between five million and six million vehicles this year. It’s already off to a strong start, with sales in the first two months of 2025 up 93% year-on-year to 623,300 units.

One area where Tesla still clearly leads however is market valuation. The US carmaker is worth about $800bn (€737.9bn) despite a share-price rout that’s seen the stock plunge 38% this year. BYD has a market capitalization closer to $157 billion.

Musk’s EV maker also makes more money on an absolute basis; Tesla’s net income last year was $7.6bn (€7bn).

But whereas Tesla is losing in China — shipments have been backsliding there for the past five consecutive months on a year-on-year basis — BYD is winning. China is still far and away BYD’s biggest market, where it commands a share of almost 15%, not just for new-energy vehicles but any sort of passenger car.

Sales outside China

BYD doesn’t sell passenger cars in the US yet due to punitive tariffs on made-in-China automobiles, but it’s made big inroads into markets in Europe, places in Asia like Singapore and Thailand, as well as Australia.

Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s chairman and founder, said in a statement the company planned to keep boosting research and development while bolstering its product competitiveness, including in its focus of succeeding outside of China.

He also said that Chinese auto brands in the era of intelligence-led vehicles were no longer merely followers, but rather at the forefront of the trend. They’re “daring” to be first in the world and are collaborating with other domestic brands to go global and move up the value chain, he said.

Bloomberg