BYD’s
march toward surpassing
Tesla
to become the largest battery-electric vehicle producer on the planet has been as impressive as it looks inevitable.
The Chinese EV maker delivered just over 301,000 passenger vehicles in November, up about 31% year over year. Included in the total were just over 170,000 all-battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, up almost 50% year over year. BYD also delivered about 131,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles.
In the first two months of the fourth quarter, BYD delivered almost 336,000 BEVs, up about 55% year over year.
At this rate of growth, BYD should deliver more than 500,000 BEVs in the fourth quarter.
Tesla
is expected to deliver about 475,000. If things work out that way, it will be the first quarter since Tesla finished second to another EV maker since Elon Musk’s car company brought electric cars to the masses.
Through November, BYD has delivered almost 2.7 million vehicles in 2023, including almost 1.4 million BEVs.
Tesla should retain the crown for the full year. BYD should deliver between 1.6 million and 1.7 million BEVs, up from about 911,000 in 2022. Tesla should sell about 1.8 million, up from about 1.3 million sold in 2022.
Both companies are growing sales, but BYD’s growth highlights a hole in Tesla’s product lineup.
BYD is expected to about $88 billion in 2023 sales. That will work out to about $29,000 per car sold. The same calculation for Tesla yields about $54,000 per car sold.
BYD sells more lower-priced vehicles. Tesla doesn’t make similar products yet. Its cheapest vehicle, the Model 3, starts at about $37,000 in China.
To defend its market share, Tesla will need to expand its product lineup. It plans to do that with a lower-priced Tesla that should arrive on the streets in late 2024 or 2025.
BYD stock was up 0.3% in overseas trading on Monday. Tesla shares were down 0.1% in premarket trading while
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
futures were down 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
Read the full article here