Tesla Beaten by BYD?

All over mainstream business media, you hear some form of this headline: 'Tesla beaten by BYD in quarterly sales.' This article will dive into BYD, what that headline means, and whether Tesla should be worried. All within 2 minutes!

BYD is an electric vehicle manufacturer in China (backed by Warren Buffet - a big deal in the investing world). 20 years ago, they started manufacturing car batteries and slowly ventured into the electric car manufacturing world. Most of BYD's cars are at a lower price than Tesla's and are primarily sold in China. 

All these headlines referring to 'BYD beating Tesla' refer to the fact that BYD sold more electric cars than Tesla in October- December 2023. But remember that more cars sold do not necessarily equal more profit. Though I do not have exact numbers, Tesla likely made more profits than BYD during this period. Despite having had fewer cars sold than BYD during this period, Tesla did sell what was a record number of Teslas for them.  

So, why are these sales significant at all? BYD likely made less profit, and it's just the sales of 3 months. There are two potential reasons. First, Tesla is currently the king of the electric vehicle market. Any company rivaling Tesla in any way is a big deal. Second, almost a decade ago, Elon Musk chuckled at the question when asked about competition with BYD. In my opinion, some people see this recent sales figure to be a little bit of an 'in your face, Elon' moment. 

BYD is hoping to push its global presence (presence beyond China). While this might shake up competition across the electric vehicle market, what will happen is still unclear. In terms of global presence, Tesla is a very well-established brand. Should Tesla be worried? I don't know. But they should definitely keep an eye out for the competition. Let's see what happens! 

Note: Most of my recent articles are about the electric vehicle market. Not because I'm passionate about cars; there's just a lot happening in that space!