Sales at Chinese electric car champion BYD have topped $100billion for the first time – overtaking those at rival Tesla.
The Warren Buffett-backed group, which has been dubbed ‘the Tesla killer’ and is expanding in Europe after dominating its home market, saw revenue jump 29 per cent to $107billion (£83billion) last year.
That eclipsed the £75billion raked in by Elon Musk-run Tesla, driven by demand for plug-in hybrid models.
Profits at BYD – which stands for Build Your Dreams – surged 34 per cent to £4.3billion last year as the company sold more than 4m cars.
In comparison, Tesla, which has been damaged by competition from cheaper rivals including the Chinese manufacturer as well as controversies surrounding Musk, suffered a 1 per cent drop in deliveries to 1.8m.
In a further blow, separate research yesterday showed Tesla’s European sales tumbled 44 per cent last month to lag behind legacy car makers Volkswagen and BMW as well as Chinese rivals.
Accelerating: The Chinese electric car giant BYD is backed by top investor Warren Buffet (pictured)
Musk’s forays into politics have also dented his popularity among European motorists.
There are also concerns that he is stretching himself too thin after the billionaire – a close ally of Donald Trump – took a government role alongside business interests, such as social media platform X and rocket builder Space X.
And the phasing out of the existing version of Tesla’s best-selling vehicle, the Model Y, has hurt sales, experts said. BYD’s update came just days after the Shenzhen-based company unveiled a new battery system that would allow drivers to recharge their vehicles within five minutes, which sent its shares soaring to a record high.
Tesla’s shares rose around 10 per cent yesterday on hopes that the US President will narrow the scope of tariffs.
But the manufacturer’s share price is still down around 40 per cent since hitting an all-time high in mid-December. In the same period, BYD’s stock has soared more than 30 per cent.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at broker AJ Bell, said BYD’s results ‘will have gone down like sour milk’ with Tesla bosses.
‘The Chinese car maker was once dissed by Elon Musk as not having a great product, but that product has just scored BYD record sales in 2024, motoring past Tesla,’ she said.
Figures from research platform Jato Dynamics yesterday showed Tesla sold fewer than 16,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEV) across 25 European Union markets, the UK, Norway and Switzerland last month – down 44 per cent from February 2024.
Its market share in the month fell to 9.6 per cent, the lowest February reading in the last five years.
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.