Chinese electric-car (EV) maker BYD is setting new sales milestones in its global rivalry with Tesla, after snatching its crown as the world’s biggest in terms of deliveries.
The Shenzhen-based company raked in a 29 per cent jump in 2024 annual revenue to an all-time high of 777 billion yuan (US$101.1 billion), according to results published late on Monday, surpassing Tesla’s US$97.7 billion sales in the same period.
BYD started overtaking Tesla in sales from the third quarter of 2024, according to their earnings reports, having earlier outsold Tesla on a unit delivery basis since 2022 amid a surge in EV popularity in mainland China and state subsidies to fuel domestic consumption.
The company, however, will need to improve on its margins. While earnings rose 34 per cent to a record 40.25 billion yuan, they were about a fifth below Tesla’s US$7.1 billion last year, even after Elon Musk’s Texas-based carmaker suffered a 53 per cent drop in profitability.
How Chinese companies have pulled ahead of Tesla in the electric vehicle race
How Chinese companies have pulled ahead of Tesla in the electric vehicle race
“BYD is cementing its role as China’s EV king because of its dominance in the world’s largest market,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst in Shanghai. “Its surging deliveries and diverse product offerings will help improve profitability and get the better of Tesla soon.”
Tesla’s decline has been rapid. The firm sold about 180,000 units in 2020 when its Gigafactory outside Shanghai began operations, giving it a 16 per cent share of China’s EV market. Its share dwindled to 6 per cent in 2024 and 4.3 per cent last month, industry data showed.
