BYD: The World’s Leading Electric Vehicle Manufacturer?

As BYD continues its growth, in the third quarter of 2023 the Chinese manufacturer and Tesla sold the same number of electric vehicles.

In the last quarter, Tesla once again sold the largest number of fully electric cars with 435,059 units. But for Tesla, the euphoria is starting to fade with an year-over-year growth rate limited to “only” 27%, whereas the American manufacturer had recorded triple-digit increases in recent years.

This slower growth rate has allowed BYD to come within reach of Tesla and begin to seriously consider overtaking it at the next slowdown! The Chinese company reported 431,603 battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales, just 3,456 units fewer than Tesla. The two companies have never been so close to each other.

This is a strong sign that Tesla’s dominance in the BEV segment could be coming to an end. Now, the question is whether Tesla will retain or lose its leadership position in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the Volkswagen group saw its sales of fully electric cars increase by 41% year-over-year to reach 209,394 units. This is almost half of its annual sales, but not enough to pop champagne bottles as it remains half less than Tesla and BYD’s results. The German automaker is struggling with electric vehicles, facing a backlog of ID.3, ID.4, and ID.5 unsold models.

In the first nine months of the year, Tesla sold over 1.3 million fully electric cars, while BYD surpassed one million. BYD shows the best growth but is unlikely to catch up with Tesla for the full year because the gap remains too large.

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