BYD Rides High After Tesla Sales Takeover and Bumper October

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD is riding high after a series of wins including taking over US rival Tesla in quarterly sales for the first time ever, and reporting a fifth consecutive month of record shipments.

BYD sold a mammoth 500,526 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in October, up more than 66% from the same period last year. This was the first time the automaker’s monthly sales crossed the half-a-million monthly sales mark.

The numbers follow BYD’s earnings report from last week that showed it had taken over Elon Musk-led Tesla in quarterly sales revenue for the time ever.

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In the three months ending September, BYD raked in 201.12 billion yuan ($28.34 billion) in revenue, as against Tesla’s $25.18 billion revenue in the same period, according to CNBC. BYD’s sales were up 24% year-on-year.

In terms of profits, however, BYD remained on the back foot.

While Tesla booked a net profit of $2.18 billion, BYD’s earnings stood at $1.6 billion for the period, CNBC reported. In full-year sales, too, Tesla edged ahead with $71.98 billion in total revenue, as against BYD’s $70.53 billion.

Investors remained unfazed by both those numbers, however. Shenzhen-listed shares of the carmaker were up 5.74% at close of trade on Monday, while its Hong Kong-listed stock was up 3.53%.

The market moves brought some much needed breather to the stock after it took a beating last week over concerns about the European Union’s new tariffs coming into effect this month and potential geopolitical uncertainty stemming from tomorrow’s US presidential election.

All-around bonanza for Chinese EV firms

Much of the market euphoria came on the back of BYD’s October NEV sales, which defied concerns of slowing demand in China — the world’s biggest automobile market.

NEVs include both plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). Hybrid cars have been the biggest driver of BYD’s sales in recent months, due their flexibility and comparatively lower prices.

Hybrid vehicles accounted for more than half of BYD’s NEV sales for October, hitting an eighth consecutive monthly high at 310,912 units. That’s more than 129% than the same period last month and 23% higher than September.

BYD wasn’t the only Chinese EV-maker to see a sales bonanza though. Several carmakers in the country reported record NEV sales in October.

Startup Xpeng sold 23,917 electric vehicles in October, posting a second consecutive month of record sales.

Stellantis-backed Leapmotor delivered 38,177 NEVs in the month, setting a fifth consecutive monthly record. Similarly, Geely Auto’s luxury EV brand Zeekr sold a record 25,049 vehicles for the month.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi — one the most talked about EV entrants this year — sold more than 20,000 of its newly launched vehicles in October.

Of the 18 Chinese carmakers that released their October NEV sales numbers, at least half reported an 80% jump in deliveries from a year earlier, Yicai reported.

Tesla, meanwhile, sold 68,280 China-made electric vehicles in October, down 5.3% from a year earlier, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday.

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]