Tesla held its position as the world’s leading EV manufacturer in the third quarter, narrowly surpassing Chinese auto giant BYD. During this period, Tesla reported shipping 435,059 vehicles globally, rebounding after facing its first delivery drop in over a year due to factory shutdowns. Despite this decline, the company remains confident in achieving its year-end goal of 1.8 million deliveries.
In contrast, BYD announced that it delivered a total of 824,001 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in the same quarter, including 822,094 passenger cars and 1,907 commercial vehicles. Among these, BYD delivered 431,603 battery electric passenger vehicles (BEVs) and 390,491 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), putting them in a similar category as Tesla’s vehicles.
Both companies are benefiting from the decreasing prices of lithium and batteries. Tesla sources batteries from major suppliers such as LG, CATL, and Panasonic, while BYD is the world’s second-largest battery manufacturer after fellow Chinese giant, CATL.
Tesla’s impressive sales performance in the third quarter, with a 27% surge compared to the COVID-impacted same quarter in 2022, puts it on track to reach its 1.8 million delivery target. The company’s deliveries for the first nine months of 2023 have already exceeded the total deliveries for all of 2022.
Despite BYD’s strong performance, they still trail behind Tesla for the year-to-date, with Tesla leading by 276,000 units as of September 30. BYD’s sales of passenger BEVs and PHEVs have seen significant growth, with battery-powered EV deliveries surpassing the typically more popular plug-in hybrid style vehicles for the first time.
In total, BYD sold 2.070 million BEVs and PHEVs collectively known as NEVs in China. In September, BYD set a record by selling 28,039 NEVs in overseas markets, a 12.05 percent increase from August. This marked the company’s first announcement of overseas NEV sales figures in 2022, revealed in July.