The dominance of the Chinese company BYD in the electric car market, as it sold 3.02 million new energy cars in 2023, including 1.6 million battery-powered cars and 1.4 million hybrid cars.
This number puts the Chinese electric car giant on track to exceed Tesla’s production for the second year in a row.
The company stopped producing gasoline-only cars in March 2022.
Tesla has not yet announced full-year numbers, although it said it produced 1.35 million cars during the first three quarters of 2023.
Tesla is expected this week to announce a major jump in its global sales after cutting prices at the end of last year, and with customers benefiting from US tax breaks.
In 2022, Tesla produced 1.37 million cars, while BYD produced 1.88 million cars. New energy vehicles include battery-powered models and hybrid models.
Most BYD cars are sold at a low price range compared to Tesla’s and come in hybrid versions, while Tesla only sells battery-powered cars.
China is the world’s largest market for cars, and is now a rapidly growing market, as it moves forward in the transition to electric cars.
China controls the supply chain for battery-powered cars, from mining and processing cobalt and other metals used in batteries, to deploying robots in factories that make cars and trucks.
China’s electric car companies and their suppliers employ about 1.5 million people.
The government’s significant financial support for industry development was a big reason for China’s early leadership in electric vehicles.
Automakers have reduced car prices to attract buyers after financial incentives for consumers expire at the end of 2022.
Many companies, including BYD, offered new discounts this fall, escalating the price war that began earlier this year.
BYD sells most of its cars in China, and is expanding globally, especially in Europe, although it faces high tariffs in the American market.
Tesla and BYD are competing for the title of the world’s largest electric car manufacturer, even though they face competition from automakers that are spending billions of dollars to catch up.
