BYD accelerates again: +62% in 2023. Awaiting Tesla results
The Chinese manufacturer sold 526,409 Bevs in the fourth quarter. Tesla will need a record performance to maintain leadership
3' min read
3' min read
BYD, the Chinese giant that manufactures battery electric vehicles (Bev) and plug-in hybrids (but also car and mobile phone batteries, buses, trains and solar panels), sold some 3.02 million units in 2023, a resounding increase of 61.9 per cent. These are the figures provided on Monday by the Shenzhen-based group, founded and led by billionaire Wang Chuanfu and in which Warren Buffett, co-founder, chairman and ceo of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, is also a shareholder. Of the 3 million cars delivered by BYD about 1.6 million are Bevs and about 1.4 million plug-in hybrids. In the fourth quarter alone, the Chinese carmaker sold 526,409 Bevs, which means Tesla will need a record performance to maintain leadership.
The entry in the global top ten
.We will know more on Tuesday, when Tesla announces its fourth quarter results. The market expects the Elon Musk-led company to have delivered 1.82 million electric vehicles globally in 2023, up 37 per cent from 2022, and about 480,000 units in the fourth quarter. We will see if the restyling of the Model 3 and the futuristic Cybertruck pickup, deliveries of which began at the end of November, will have given a boost at the end of a year in which the price war has distinguished the Texan manufacturer.
BYD's growth, however, is scary: 2023 volumes were almost equal to the sales of electric and hybrid vehicles of the previous five years combined. The Shenzhen-based company, which had a target of 3 million annual sales, experienced rapid growth in 2023 that catapulted it into the global top 10 for the first time.
In China, BYD secured 36.6% of the market against Tesla's 7.5%. The Chinese market, although experiencing a drop in demand in the first part of the year, saw sales of Nev (plug-in hybrid and battery-powered) cars increase by 36.5% over 2022 to around 7.75 million units, according to preliminary estimates. Group sales in 2022 amounted to EUR 54 billion, of which more than 76% (EUR 41 billion) came from automotive. Only five years earlier, group turnover was EUR 15 billion.
BYD is doing less well on the stock market. BYD shares lost almost 24 per cent in 2023 (Shenzhen Stock Exchange), with the stock's decline accelerating since mid-November, as competitive pressures, price cuts and fears of failing to meet sales targets caused the company's valuation to plummet. In contrast, Tesla shares gained 130 per cent.
