BYD Targets Tesla's Top BEV Sales Title

China’s leading battery-electric-vehicle manufacturer, BYD, is edging closer to toppling Tesla as the world’s biggest-selling BEV brand.

The company announces this week that it sold a record 526,000 BEVs in the last three months of 2023 aided by a more than 70% surge in sales in December, reports the BBC. BYD claims it has sold more than 3 million vehicles, albeit that includes gasoline-electric hybrids among the BEV products.

That said, the company says it has sold 1.6 million BEVs, however, Tesla releases its own Q4 sales figures today showing it retains its global sales title recording 484,500 electric vehicles in the last three months of 2023 and 1.8 million for the year as a whole. Nonetheless, BYD's greater December sales figure illustrates how quickly Chinese BEV makers are closing in on Tesla especially because they are able to sell their vehicles at prices few traditional automakers can match.

Industry analysts also point out that BYD’s success lies mainly in its ability to manufacture its own battery packs for all its products unlike most of its rivals, including Tesla.