Tesla, the largest electric vehicle (EV) brand worldwide for many years, recently surpassed its own sales record with 494,989 electric cars delivered in the last quarter. However, the American company has been overtaken by BYD, a Chinese company, which sold 526,409 fully electric cars in the last three months of 2023, according to a news agency report from Reuters. Additionally, BYD also sold 416,242 plug-in hybrids, bringing the total to 942,651 cars. This marked the first time that BYD outsold Tesla in a single quarter, with Tesla selling 435,059 electric cars in the same period.
Overall, throughout 2023, Tesla remained the largest EV brand with 1,808,581 sales worldwide, although this fell short of CEO Elon Musk’s goal of 2 million EVs sold for the year. BYD’s annual sales also saw significant growth, reaching 1,574,804 electric cars sold, compared to 911,140 in 2022.
BYD’s success in EV sales is attributed to its strong market share in China, where EVs are highly popular. The company is also expanding its sales outside of China, including in the Netherlands.
It is evident that BYD has taken over the leading position in EV sales from Tesla, and it is expected to maintain this position moving forward. This marks an important shift in the EV market, particularly as BYD continues to expand its presence in the global EV industry.