Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars
Build Your Dreams outperforms its competitor in pure battery-powered vehicle numbers in the final quarter of 2023
Elon Musk's Tesla has been overtaken by its Chinese rival BYD as the world's best-selling electric car maker.
BYD, which has been backed by US investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, has surpassed Tesla's production for the second year in a row.
BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, said it produced 3.02 million new energy vehicles in 2023. American multinational Tesla announced on Tuesday that it had manufactured 1.84 million cars. However, BYD's sales figures include 1.6 million pure battery-powered cars and 1.4 million hybrid cars, meaning Tesla is still the leader in the production of pure battery-powered electric cars.
Nevertheless, in the last quarter of last year, BYD sold more battery-only cars than Tesla for the first time – 526,000 to 484,000.
Most of BYD's vehicles are sold at a lower price than Tesla, which gets about 20% of its sales from the Chinese market.
Chinese electric car manufacturers such as BYD and Nio have set their sights on becoming major players in international markets, with a particular focus on Europe. In December, BYD, which sells five models in Europe and plans to launch three more this year, announced plans to build a new factory in Hungary. Last year the company said it was not considering building its first European factory in the UK due to the impact of Brexit. BYD said Britain has not yet even drawn up a top 10 list of possible locations to build its first European car plant.
China's top-selling electric car manufacturer aims to sell around 800,000 cars annually in Europe by 2030. However, these goals could be at risk after the European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicle imports last September.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commented on the decision at the time, saying that Chinese electric vehicles were now flooding global markets and were being “kept artificially low by government subsidies”.
The investigation, which is expected to last a year, could lead to the EU imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese vehicles.
Hong Kong-listed BYD, which was founded by a former university professor Wang Chuanfu and began developing batteries in 1995, aims to become a global powerhouse in the electric vehicle market.
Tesla, led by Musk, announced last month that it was recalling just over two million vehicles in the U.S. equipped with the advanced driver assistance system Autopilot to incorporate new safety measures
One of the advantages BYD has over its US and European counterparts is its ability to produce electric vehicle batteries in-house.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “While Tesla is the world leader in rechargeable batteries, it relies on multiple suppliers and has highlighted lithium shortages as demand increases, which is a barrier to the Supply chain represents.” Years are coming.
“BYD is already taking steps to secure the precious metal by purchasing a stake in a Chinese lithium producer. It is eyeing buying mines in Africa and exploring assets in South America where the metal is mined.”
China's emergence as the largest electric vehicle manufacturer by sales comes at a significant time: the start of the US presidential election year.
China-US relations, particularly in the area of trade, are expected to be a central part of the presidential election campaign, which is expected to be between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Last month, the Biden administration introduced new protectionist measures for its electric vehicle market by blocking full subsidies to electric vehicle companies with significant ties to China under its Inflation Reduction Act. U.S.-made electric vehicles that contain battery components made in China would also be ineligible for access to full subsidies.
The Wall Street Journal also reported just before Christmas that the U.S. government was considering increasing tariffs on some Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, to boost the U.S. clean energy sector. This would be in addition to the 25% tariffs on vehicles imported from China that were imposed under Trump's presidency and expanded under the Biden administration.
The U.S. is trying to take action in other areas where it has security concerns about China's manufacturing capabilities.
On Monday it was reported that the Biden administration had put pressure on the Dutch government to block shipments of high-tech chip-making machines to China by one of its key technology companies.
ASML, a leading supplier to the semiconductor industry, confirmed that the government had partially revoked its license to export three chip-making lithography machines to China.
Bloomberg reported that the decision came after US officials called for the move to limit the growth of China's semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
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