Shanghai-based BYD Co (BYDDY, Financial), China's largest new-energy car maker, is speeding up in the global auto industry and closing the gap with Ford in terms of sales volume. As a result of new demand and a high production expansion rate, BYD sales by the end of October increased by 36% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year and exceeded 3.25 million units.
Experts believe the annual sales of new energy vehicles could reach 4 million in 2024, closer to Ford's 4.4 million in 2023, showing BYD's ambition to enter the top ten global automobile manufacturers. This is even truer in the mother country Chinese market, where BYD occupies a third of the market share of NEV with a 36.1% stake. The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) reported BYD's October new energy vehicle (NEV) sales at 431,367 units, a 67.2% increase YoY.
The competition in the Chinese market, where Tesla is a major contender of BYD, declined to 3.4 %, although it recorded 41.4 % sales growth year over year. BYD further left behind Tesla in the revenue front for the latest quarter with a 24% year-on-year growth to reach $ 2825 billion against $ 2518 billion of Tesla. However, Tesla's margins are still more comfortable, with net income at $2.167 billion, far from the 4 yuan per share that BYD garnered. This Chinese carmaker has stopped producing combustion-engine vehicles since 2022 and is solely concentrating on electric and hybrid models - it recruited over 200,000 workers from August- October to increase production. Analysts focus on BYD's manufacturing flexibility due to its civil-military reform, a key strength as rivalry intensifies globally in the EV market.
