China’s leading EV maker hit a milestone, selling over 400,000 vehicles for the first time last month. BYD just had its fourth straight month of record-breaking sales as its dominant run continued in September. Will it be enough to top Tesla for the global EV sales crown?
BYD’s record-breaking sales continued in September
According to its latest filing, BYD sold a record 419,426 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in September. That includes electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
BYD’s Dynasty/ Ocean models accounted for 401,572 of the sales, Fangchengbao had 5,422, Denza 10,299, and Yangwang sold 310 vehicles.
The growth was enough to top its previous record of 373,082 sold in August. BYD has now had four straight months of record-breaking sales.
BYD’s growth was primarily fueled by PHEVs, with 252,647 units sold last month, surging 86% from September 2023. September was BYD’s seventh consecutive month with record PHEV sales. The company has now sold nearly 1.6 million PHEV models in 2024, an increase of 53% from last year.
Meanwhile, EV sales continued to pick up. BYD sold 164,956 all-electric vehicles in September, up 9% from a year ago and 11% from August.
A close race for global EV leader title in 2024
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, was China’s top-selling EV in August (40,949 models sold), with prices starting at under $10,000 (69,800 yuan). In September, BYD sold another 43,425 Seagull EVs.
Although BYD is best known for its affordable electric cars, the company is quickly expanding its lineup with pickup trucks, luxury models, and electric supercars hitting the market.
BYD has now sold 1,169,579 EVs through the first nine months of 2024, up 11.6% from last year. With new models rolling out globally, BYD sold 33,012 vehicles overseas, up 5% from August.
In the third quarter, BYD sold over 1.1 million vehicles, an increase of 38% from Q3 2023. It was also BYD’s first time crossing the 1M sales mark in a quarter. Of them, 443,426 were all-electric (+3% YOY), while the other 685,830 were PHEVs (+76% YOY).
Earlier today, we learned Tesla delivered 462,890 EVs in the third quarter. Despite just missing expectations, it was enough to top BYD’s 443K third-quarter EV sales.
Tesla remains ahead of BYD through the first nine months of 2024. The EV leader has delivered 1,293,656 vehicles so far this year, compared to BYD’s EV sales of 1,169,579.
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