As China takes the global lead in vehicle exports, Shenzhen-based BYD has become the world’s top seller of EVs. Fellow Chinese automakers Li Auto and XPeng have also reported record sales figures to end the year, compounding triple-digit growth in Q4. Reaching these new heights has pushed China’s EV powerhouses to look abroad, particularly toward Europe. Though tariffs and tax credits for western-made EVs have been enacted to counter a wave of Chinese autos flooding into the EU, low sticker prices have continually kept these EVs competitive. New initiatives by China-based firms to manufacture their vehicles on the European continent could begin to undercut the impact of trade restrictions.
Related Stocks: Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), BYD Company Limited (BYDDY), Li Auto Inc. (LI), XPeng Inc. (XPEV)
China’s BYD is now the world’s top seller of fully electric vehicles (EVs). Newly-reported sales of 526,409 units in Q4 2023 helped BYD surpass previous global leader Tesla, which delivered 484,507 units in the quarter. BYD, which produces battery-only EVs and hybrid automobiles, first surpassed Tesla’s output of vehicles in 2022 and beat the American EV manufacturer again in 2023, completing more than 3 million units to Tesla’s 1.84 million. However, Tesla does not build hybrids and if we account for battery-only vehicles, BYD’s production of 1.6 million still falls short of Tesla’s.
BYD is not the only China-based EV maker reporting record sales figures. Deliveries of both Li Auto and XPeng EVs reached record heights in December, as their YoY gains for Q4 tallied 137% and 171%, respectively. Both of these companies, as well as BYD, are preparing to supplement these rapidly-growing sales figures with overseas expansions in 2024.
As MRP previously noted, AlixPartners data indicated that China became the world’s top exporter of automobiles in Q1 of last year, shipping 1.07 million vehicles abroad and surpassing Japan’s quarterly tally near 1.05 million for the first time. The world’s second-largest economy is likely to…
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