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Elon Musk’s Tesla has been overtaken by China’s BYD as the world’s best-selling electric car maker.
Tesla announced Tuesday that it delivered a record 484,507 cars in the third quarter of 2023, a 20% increase from the same period last year.
However, it was surpassed for the first time by BYD, which announced on Monday that it had delivered 526,409 vehicles during the same period.
Tesla has been the world’s largest electric car maker since 2015, when sales of its high-performance cars overtook Nissan Leaf.
But China has since become the world’s largest market for battery-powered cars, with major domestic companies such as BYD investing heavily in producing affordable vehicles.
BYD, which has vowed to “topple” Western incumbents, has recently expanded beyond China by selling cars in the UK and Europe.
It is backed by Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway.
The company had already surpassed Tesla in total sales, including plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Tesla’s car deliveries last year were only slightly higher than market expectations of about 483,200 cars.
This means that the company sold 1.8 million cars in all of 2023.
This was a 38% increase compared to 2022, surpassing BYD’s 1.6 million units, but falling short of Musk’s 2 million unit goal.
Tesla is embarking on a price war to boost sales as rising interest rates raise financing costs and tighter U.S. subsidy regulations threaten to reduce the price of electric cars.
Last month, the company was forced to issue an update to millions of vehicles due to safety concerns related to its Autopilot software.
BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, said it is not considering entering the United States.
However, it began sales in the UK in March, and last month announced plans to open its first European factory in Hungary.
This comes even as the EU has launched an investigation into what it calls a “flood” of cheap Chinese electric cars backed by state subsidies. The investigation could result in higher tariffs on imported goods.
Tesla remains the world’s most valuable automaker, with its stock nearly doubling in value last year.
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