BYD overtakes Tesla as number 1 at the end of the year
Tesla was once again the world's largest manufacturer of electric cars last year. In total, the Group sold more than 1.8 million pure e-cars to customers, relegating its competitor BYD to second place. However, the Chinese took the lead in the last quarter.
The Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD overtook its US rival Tesla as the world's largest electric car manufacturer in the last quarter of the year. However, Tesla was still ahead for the year as a whole. The Chinese company sold a total of 526,409 pure plug-in cars to customers between October and the end of December. Tesla sold 484,507 vehicles in the same period. At the same time, BYD produced more new pure electric vehicles. According to the figures, 518,974 e-cars rolled off the production line in the three months. Tesla's plants produced 494,989 during this period.
According to Tesla, it sold 1.81 million vehicles for the year as a whole. This was 38 percent more for the year as a whole. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had targeted around 1.8 million vehicles. The Model 3 and Model Y accounted for 1.74 million vehicles. Meanwhile, production increased to 1.85 million cars.
BYD increased its sales last year by almost two thirds (62 percent) to three million vehicles. This includes both battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids. This involved around 1.57 million BEVs and 1.43 million plug-in hybrids.
BYD recently announced the construction of its first European car plant in Hungary. According to experts, this is intended to open up the market in Europe in particular. The company currently has plants in the USA, Brazil, Japan and India.
Discount battle and subsidy adjustment
Price reductions and an upcoming change in subsidy policy have recently driven sales of electric cars in China. According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), deliveries of e-cars and hybrid cars soared by almost 40 percent in November alone and also accounted for 40 percent of total car sales. Since the beginning of the new year, price caps have been in place for tax benefits when purchasing e-cars.
Tesla sparked the price war at the beginning of last year, but later reversed course and raised its prices several times. According to CPCA data, the US company sold almost a fifth (18 percent) fewer vehicles in November than in the same month last year. The 82,000 Teslas sold in China were offset by more than 170,000 BYD models in China.
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Source: www.ntv.de
