China’s BYD Overtakes Tesla in Revenue and Growth Last Year — Gap Set to Grow

Comparing the performance of the Chinese company BYD and the American Tesla is always somewhat tricky, since the former sells not only electric cars, but also hybrids in significant quantities, while the latter focuses exclusively on electric cars. One way or another, BYD managed to outpace Tesla in revenue figures last year.

Image source: BYD

Specifically, in monetary terms, BYD earned $107 billion, while Tesla was limited to $97.7 billion. At the same time, BYD’s business is growing at a faster rate than its American competitor. At least, the revenue of the largest Chinese automaker last year grew by 29%. BYD’s net profit increased by 34% to $5.55 billion. Tesla was ahead in terms of net profit, as it ended the year with $7.6 billion in the corresponding line of the financial statements.

In the fourth quarter of last year, BYD’s net profit grew by 73% year-on-year to $2 billion, while revenue amounted to $37.9 billion. In terms of the number of purebred electric vehicles sold last year, BYD was only slightly behind Tesla, selling 1.76 million cars versus 1.79 million for its American competitor. Taking into account hybrids, BYD delivered 4.27 million passenger cars to the market last year.

BYD’s management recently specified its targets for the current year. The company expects to sell 5.5 million vehicles, of which 800,000 will be sold outside China. In the first two months of this year alone, BYD’s shipments grew by 93% to 623,000 units. The company is betting on international expansion, upgrading its powertrains and introducing its signature active driver assistance features even on entry-level models at no extra cost to the buyer.

BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said that Chinese automakers are now at the forefront of the global auto industry, and others are looking up to them. They are willing to cooperate with each other in entering the global market and moving up the value chain to become leaders.