Tesla finally cedes top spot in EV sales to China's BYD

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla has announced vehicle production and delivery numbers for the fourth quarter of 2023 (October to December). As a result, Tesla's delivery and production numbers for 2023 have been revealed, but it has also become clear that Tesla has fallen behind its Chinese competitor

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-02/tesla-falls-behind-byd-in-quarterly-ev-sales-as-growth-slows

Tesla Vehicle Production & Deliveries and Date for Financial Results & Webcast for Fourth Quarter 2023 | Tesla Investor Relations
https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-vehicle-production-deliveries-and-date-financial-results-webcast-fourth-quarter-2023

Tesla announced that it produced approximately 495,000 vehicles and delivered 484,507 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023 (October to December). This number exceeds analysts' predictions (483,173 units). As a result, the total number of vehicles Tesla delivered in 2023 was 1.81 million units (38% increase from the previous year), and the total number of vehicles produced was 1.85 million units (35% increase from the previous year).

In Q4, we produced approximately 495k vehicles & delivered over 484k vehicles.

Full year 2023
Deliveries: 1.81 million (+38% YoY)
Production: 1.85 million (+ 35% YoY)

Our Q4 Earnings Call will be streamed live on X on January 24 at 4:30pm CT

→ https://t.co/vWPOkQVGmV

— Tesla (@Tesla) January 2, 2024

Meanwhile, Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD reported that it sold 526,409 EVs in the fourth quarter of 2023. With this, BYD replaced Tesla as the manufacturer that sold the most vehicles in the EV market in the fourth quarter of 2023. Bloomberg points out that the driving force behind BYD's strong performance is the wide range of low-priced models.

Below is a graph summarizing trends in Tesla and BYD's quarterly EV sales. As of the third quarter of 2023, sales volume appears to have reached almost the same level.

Although Tesla exceeded its original goal of ``1.8 million vehicles per year'', the company's CEO Elon Musk seems to have been aiming for more deliveries. Tesla also lowered the price of EVs in 2023 in an attempt to increase the number of vehicles delivered annually, but Bloomberg's opinion is that ``Tesla was unable to generate enough demand to significantly increase the number of vehicles delivered.''

Regarding BYD and China's auto industry, which overtook Tesla to take the top spot in the EV market, Bloomberg said, ``The fluctuations in the EV market reflect China's growing influence in the overall auto industry. 'In 2023, Japan could become the world's largest exporter of passenger cars, surpassing the United States, South Korea, and Germany.'

Tesla has finally been overtaken by BYD in terms of quarterly EV sales (deliveries), but it generates more sales and profits than BYD. This is because Tesla sells much more expensive vehicles. The two models, Model Y and Model 3, account for the majority of Tesla's sales, and the Model 3 and Model Y account for 95% of the vehicles Tesla delivered in the fourth quarter of 2023. Masu.

In addition to Model Y and Model 3, Tesla has started deliveries of Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck on November 30, 2023.

Tesla finally starts delivering the pickup truck 'Cybertruck', it can guard against gunfire & 'Cybertruck that towed Porsche 911' is faster than Porsche 911, starting from about 9 million yen with amazing performance - GIGAZINE

Tesla does not publish quarterly car sales by region, but Bloomberg pointed out that the United States and China are the company's largest markets. Tesla manufactures the Model S/X/3/Y in Fremont, California, the Model 3/Y in Shanghai, and the Model Y at factories in Austin and on the outskirts of Berlin.