Upstart EV firm to zip pa$t Tesla
Elon Musk’s Tesla is poised to lose its spot as the world’s top-selling electric vehicle to a lesser-known Chinese-made competitor, say reports.
BYD, short for Build Your Dreams, is expected to surpass Tesla in worldwide sales before the quarter ends Dec. 31 — a sign of China stepping on the accelerator in the race to dominate the global auto industry, Bloomberg reported.
The Warren Buffetbacked carmaker is zipping into pole position largely by undercutting Tesla’s hefty price tag.
Tesla’s fully electric midsize SUV, the Model Y, costs about $65,400, while BYD’s Atto 3 sells for between $48,880 and $51,011 depending on battery size.
BYD also offers highervolume models that cost much less than what Tesla charges for its cheapest Model 3 sedan in China.
In the last quarter, the company sold 431,600 vehicles — just 3,500 fewer than Tesla delivered.
“The competitive landscape of the auto industry has changed,” Bridget McCarthy, head of China operations for Shenzhenbased hedge fund Snow Bull Capital, which has invested in both BYD and Tesla, told Bloomberg.
“It’s no longer about the size and legacy of auto companies; it’s about the speed at which they can innovate and iterate. BYD began preparing long ago to be able to do this faster than anyone thought possible, and now the rest of the industry has to race to catch up.”
Still, not many BYD cars are seen on US roads.
Aside from targeting China’s massive population, the company currently ships EVs to Mexico and Costa Rica and select European markets that include the UK, Germany and Norway. The vehicles are also available in Singapore, Thailand, the UAE, Japan, Australia and Brazil.
Founded by Wang Chuanfu in 1995 as a maker of rechargeable batteries, the Shenzhenbased conglomerate diversified into consumer electronics, cellphones and, finally, electric vehicles in 2008.
Musk initially scoffed at the upstart. “Have you seen their cars?” he laughed in a 2011 TV interview that recently resurfaced. In a post on X this year, Musk conceded the cars are “highly competitive these days.”