BYD surpasses Tesla in quarterly revenue but not (yet?) in EV sales

For the first time, Chinese automaker BYD has surpassed Tesla in quarterly revenue. The leap is driven by strong domestic sales, helped by government incentives, and BYD’s relentless focus on expanding its international footprint. In China, where over half of vehicle sales now consist of electric or hybrid models, BYD continues to dominate.

BYD reported a third-quarter revenue of $28.2 billion (€25.9 billion), compared to Tesla’s $25.2 billion (€23.2 billion). The rise is significant at 24% year-on-year, as the car and battery maker reached a sales record of 1.12 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Net profits increased by 11.5% to $1.63 billion (€1.47 billion), exceeding expectations but below Tesla’s earnings of $2.17 billion (€2.0 million) during the last quarter.

Hybrid models push the profit

As BYD sold 443,426 battery-electric vehicles during Q3, Tesla remains in the lead as the world’s biggest EV maker, having delivered 462,890 vehicles to customers during the same period. As demand for fully electric vehicles has slightly declined, BYD benefits from its extensive hybrid lineup. With drivelines boasting a range of over 2,000 kilometers, BYD’s hybrids are popular, especially in China.

With sustained demand in its home market and enhanced government support, BYD’s outlook for the final quarter remains strong. Traditionally, the year’s end sees peak car sales, and Chinese governmental agencies continue to encourage EV purchases.

Citibank anticipates that BYD could achieve monthly sales of 500,000 vehicles by November, positioning the company to meet its goal of 4 million vehicles sold this year.

“Time left to decide upon a strategy”

While BYD is gradually gaining ground in Europe, it faces new hurdles. As of this week, the European Union applied tariffs on Chinese EV imports, imposing a rate of 17% for BYD’s range. The carmaker is constructing a factory in Hungary to circumnavigate the excess duties and is scouting for an additional plant. The Chinese government has called upon its car manufacturers to avoid investing in European countries that voted for the special tariffs for Chinese-made EVs.

It plans to manufacture components in Europe and assemble battery packs at its plants in Hungary and Turkey, with only the battery cells imported from China. Executive Vice President Stella Li confirmed this at the Paris Motor Show.

Whether or not BYD will absorb the tariffs or pass these on to customers remains undecided. Spokesperson for BYD Belgium Thomas De Meuter told Newmobility.news: “We have a decent stock volume for the upcoming months, so there’s time left to decide upon a strategy.”

He added that BYD has seen popularity among private customers grow to a 30% share over the Flemish incentive scheme. “However, we expect the sales weight to rebalance on predominantly corporate when the incentive fades out”, he concluded.