BYD sold nearly 120 thousand battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in May, posting year-on-year growth of 124% with sales nearly 15% higher than in April. 

BYD sold nearly 120 thousand battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in May, posting year-on-year growth of 124% with sales nearly 15% higher than in April. Sales of fully electric vehicles for the year to date were just short of half a million with an annualised sales rate of around 1.5 M. This is slightly ahead of Tesla’s total (BEV-only) sales from 2022, but the growth rates suggest a narrowing of the gap by the end of the year.

BYD is currently the world’s largest producer of EVs, setting a new monthly sales record in May totalling 240 thousand BEVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). However, BYD’s fully electric BEV sales are growing rapidly, despite being hugely China-focused, and are likely to generate significant growth across new Southeast Asian export markets over the remainder of 2023. The company is looking to open up plants in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia as well as enter new sales markets including Japan, India, Malaysia and Singapore.

A 2011 video of Elon Musk suggesting that BYD’s ascent to becoming a direct competitor with Tesla was “laughable” has been superseded by a recent acknowledgement that the company is now “highly competitive”. BYD have a full range of low, medium and high-end models, beginning with the small Seagull at around USD$10k to the premium Yangwang off-road model slated to be priced at around USD$160k. It should also be noted that BYD is in fact a battery partner for Tesla and is a supplier of LFP batteries for the production of Tesla’s Model Y in Europe, alongside CATL.

It appears increasingly likely that 2023 will end with BYD overtaking Tesla as the world’s largest producer of fully electric BEVs.