China’s BYD overtakes Tesla as top-selling electric car seller

Elon Musk’s Tesla has been overtaken by its Chinese rival, BYD, as the world’s top selling electric carmaker.

BYD, which has been backed by the US investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, has beaten Tesla’s production for a second consecutive year.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, said it produced 3.02m new energy vehicles in 2023. The American multinational Tesla announced on Tuesday that it made 1.84m cars. However, BYD’s sales figures include 1.6m battery-only cars, and 1.4m hybrids, which means Tesla is still the leader in the production of electric battery-only cars.

Nevertheless, in the final quarter of last year BYD outsold Tesla in battery-only car sales – 526,000 to 484,000 – for the first time.

Most of BYD’s vehicles sell at a lower price point than Tesla, which derives about 20% of its sales from the Chinese market.

Chinese electric carmakers such as BYD and Nio have set their sights on becoming major players in international markets, with a particular focus on Europe.

In December, BYD, which sells five models in Europe and has plans to launch three more this year, announced plans to build a new production plant in Hungary. Last year, the company said it did not consider building its first European car factory in the UK because of the impact of Brexit.

China’s top-selling electric carmaker is targeting sales of about 800,000 cars annually in Europe by 2030.

BYD said the UK had not even made a top 10 list of possible locations to build its first European car plant.

The Hong Kong-listed company, which was founded by a former university professor, Wang Chuanfu, and began developing batteries in 1995, intends to become a global powerhouse in the electric vehicle market.

Tesla, which is led by Musk, said last month it was recalling just over 2m vehicles in the US fitted with its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system to install new safeguards