Global EV sales: Chinese carmaker BYD overtakes Tesla

Chinese manufacturer BYD is reporting record-breaking sales for 2023, selling more than three million electrified vehicles over the course of the year.

Its impressive sales performance saw it register more electric vehicles (EVs) than Tesla in the last quarter of 2023 for the first time.

BYD sold 526,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs), while Tesla said it had delivered a record 484,500 BEVs in the last three months of 2023 and 1.8 million over the course of the year.

Elon Musk had hoped to hit two million Tesla sales in2023, but despite cutting prices for its model line-up it fell short on what was still an impressive year.

BYD’s sales total of 3,024,417 vehicles – almost 1.6 million of which were fully electric – was a substantial 61.9% year-on-year increase.

Its international market presence surged, with exports growing by 334.2% to 242,765 units.

BYD’s Atto 3 compact SUV arrived in the UK in the spring, followed swiftly by the Dolphin hatchback. 

Before the end of last year, it had also launched the Seal, an electric D-segment saloon.

The latter two form part of its Ocean series and are built on bespoke EV platforms.

The company is establishing a retail network in the UK and expects to have 100 sites by 2025.

China has become the world’s largest producer of EVs in a short space of time and, while its footprint in Europe is only small at the moment, its vast pace of growth and ability to scale up quickly means Chinese EVs will become a much more familiar sight on our roads in future. 

It’s expected that 10 new Chinese brands will launch in the UK by the end of the decade, offering an wider choice of vehicles to fleet managers and company car drivers.