BYD, a Chinese company, has moved one step closer to dethroning Elon Musk’s Tesla as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles.
The company announced on Monday that it sold a record 526,000 battery-only vehicles in the final three months of 2023.
This was aided by a more than 70% increase in December sales.
Tesla, based in the United States, is set to release its latest quarterly vehicle production and delivery figures later on Tuesday.
BYD, based in Shenzen, said it sold more than 3 million so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs) last year, which included battery-only vehicles and hybrids.
According to the company, battery-only vehicles accounted for nearly 1.6 million of its total sales.
According to industry analysts, Tesla will sell approximately 483,000 electric vehicles in the last three months of 2023 and 1.82 million for the entire year.
Mr. Musk stated in January that Tesla had the potential to deliver 2 million vehicles by 2023 but has since warned that higher borrowing costs are putting pressure on demand for his company’s vehicles.
Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s CEO, co-founded the company with his cousin in Shenzhen in 1995.
The company made a name for itself as a manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, which were used in smartphones, laptop computers, and other electronic devices, and competed with more expensive Japanese imports.
It began selling stock on the stock exchange in 2002 and diversified by acquiring Qinchuan Automobile Company, a struggling state-owned car manufacturer.
BYD has been a shareholder of veteran US investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway since 2008.
According to analysts, BYD’s growth can be attributed to its original business – batteries. They are among the most expensive components of an EV and producing them in-house saves BYD a significant amount of money.
Many of BYD’s competitors rely on third-party battery manufacturers.