A BYD executive told reporters on Monday that the intensified competition in the Chinese electric vehicle market that caused global prices to decrease will persist in the next 2-3 years.
In that sense, BYD’s branding and public relations general manager, Yunfei Li, wants to partner with American pioneer Tesla to augment the market. Li even acknowledged Tesla’s significant role in the industry’s rapid growth,
“Tesla is our very respected industry peer. It is also our client. I think this market is very large. It’s not that we must surpass them, or they must surpass us.
Instead, BYD and Tesla together, or more new energy vehicle brands together, we need to think about how to increase the new energy vehicle ‘cake.'”
Yunfei Li, BYD’s branding and public relations general manager (via CNBC translated from Mandarin)
Evolving relationship
BYD and Tesla’s relationship has truly progressed in recent years. In hindsight, Tesla Chief Elon Musk mocked the Chinese NEV giant during the original Tesla Roadster era. As EV-a2z reported, the American billionaire answered with a laugh when asked in a 2021 Bloomberg interview about his thoughts about BYD.
When the interview resurfaced in the online space, the Tesla boss immediately clarified to the public that his doubt about BYD’s competence was “many years ago. Their cars are highly competitive these days.”
In fact, CEO Musk confirmed during the 2023 Earnings Call that BYD is a major supplier of the American electric automaker.
“We are very appreciative of our suppliers. You know, Panasonic, obviously, is our longest supplier. They’re an amazing company. You know, we — we’ve got CATL, we got, LG, you know, and BYD.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
BYD surpassed Tesla in overall BEV volume
BYD successfully beat Tesla in overall battery-electric vehicle volume in the fourth quarter of 2023.
However, BYD has long surpassed the Musk-led company in total electric vehicle volume, including battery electrics and plug-in hybrids. It is unsurprising, considering that Tesla only sells pure electric vehicles.
BYD sold 526,400 BEVs, while Tesla only delivered 484,500 units. Nonetheless, Tesla remains the leader in the entire year, with sales of more than 1.8 million units. In contrast, BYD only reported about 1.6 million BEV sales in FY 2023.
About BYD
The majority of BYD’s NEV sales are concentrated in its home market, China. Nonetheless, it is continuously expanding its reach to Europe, South America, and other parts of Asia to match Tesla’s pace.
It is also worth noting that most of the brand’s offerings are under the mass market segment. However, it still has premium models like the Han electric sedan that directly competes with Tesla’s Model 3.
In a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday, the company indicated that its profit surged by at least 74% to 29 billion yuan ($4.09 billion) – 31 billion yuan ( $4.37 billion) in 2023.
These two major players’ progressive relationship demonstrates the need for electric automakers to work together on claiming market shares away from ICE vehicles instead of solely competing against each other.
