Chinese automaker BYD beat Elon Musk's Tesla, selling 5,25,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the final quarter of 2023. During the same quarter, Tesla sold 4,84,507—a record for the company.
However, Tesla still retains the top spot in the sector as it sold 1.8 million electric vehicles while the Warren Buffett-backed BYD sold 1.57 million.
This is the first quarter in which BYD outdid Tesla in the sale of electric vehicles. According to media reports, Tesla has been witnessing a slump in sales as borrowing costs have been increasing in the US.
While Tesla outdid BYD in 2023, it fell short of Musk's target of two million car deliveries. The company had a series of price cuts, but these failed to translate into increased sales.
Shenzhen-based BYD Co, the world's biggest seller of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, sold nearly 3.02 million vehicles—1.6 million battery EVs and 1.4 million plug-in hybrid EVs—in 2023. This is an increase of 61.9 per cent from the previous year.
