In 2011, Elon Musk Mocked Tesla Rival BYD. Fast Forward To 2024, The Chinese Automaker Is The Only Real Contender To TSLA's Global Dominance

Chinese EV-making giant BYD Co Ltd. BYDDY has now overtaken its American rival Tesla Inc. TSLA twice in quarterly battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales in the past two years as competition intensified.

What Happened: BYD first took over Tesla as the world’s biggest BEV seller in the last quarter of 2023. Tesla took back the crown in the first quarter of 2024 and kept it for three consecutive quarters.

However, in the fourth quarter of 2024, BYD took back the title after selling 595,413 BEVs, significantly higher than the 495,570 delivered by Tesla in the period.

For the entirety of 2024, BYD sold 1,764,992 BEVs, or just 24,234 units less than Tesla.

BYD also makes plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) in addition to BEVs, unlike Tesla which makes only BEVs, giving it another addressable market segment.

According to data research firm Rho Motion, 17.1 million EVs, including BEVs and PHEVs, will be sold in 2024.

In 2024, BYD sold 4.25 million passenger vehicles (both BEVs and PHEVs), accounting for roughly 25% of the world’s total EV sales in the period.

Tesla, in the period, sold 1.79 vehicles, or just 10.5% of overall global EV sales.

Why It Matters: Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed BYD as a competitor in a Bloomberg interview in 2011.

“Have you seen their car?” Musk then laughed when the reporter asked about BYD rivaling his EV company. He added that he does not think the BYD product is “particularly attractive.”

The billionaire CEO, however, did a complete U-turn on this statement in January 2024.

“Frankly, I think if there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world. So they’re extremely good." the CEO said about Chinese EV makers during the company’s earnings call after BYD trumped Tesla in quarterly deliveries for the first time.

The rivalry between the two EV makers has only intensified since. In Q3 2024, BYD trumped Tesla in quarterly revenue for the first time since 2022. BYD stopped making combustion engine vehicles in March 2022 to focus on electric vehicles.

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