BYD has since lowered its sales ambition for this year to 4.6 million fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, nearly 1 million units lower than its earlier target.Tesla sold a record number of vehicles last quarter, but BYD still got the better of the Elon Musk-led company yet again.
China’s top carmaker has now delivered more fully electric vehicles worldwide than its US counterpart in four consecutive quarters. BYD managed to outsell Tesla on a quarterly basis even despite registering its first total sales decline in 18 months in September.
While BYD is now poised to deliver more battery-electric cars than Tesla during a calendar year for the first time-having sold almost 390,000 more EVs through the first nine months-there are clouds on the horizon for both companies. BYD is losing momentum in its home market, where policymakers are increasingly concerned about destructive competition. Tesla will have trouble replicating last quarter’s showing now that the US has phased out federal tax credits supporting EV purchases.
China’s government has sought to temper cutthroat competitive practices in the world’s biggest car market, where manufacturers have waged a relentless price war since early 2023. BYD has been at the fore of the discounting trend and in late August reported a surprise 30 per cent drop in quarterly profit.
BYD has since lowered its sales ambition for this year to 4.6 million fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, nearly 1 million units lower than its earlier target.
