HONG KONG – BYD notched up another win over Tesla, reporting quarterly revenue that beat Elon Musk’s carmaker for the first time since the pair went head-to-head in global electric vehicles sales.
Revenue for China’s best-selling automaker soared 24 per cent to 201.1 billion yuan (S$37.4 billion) for the three months that ended in September, falling short of estimates but exceeding Tesla’s US$25.2 billion (S$33.3 billion) in sales for the same period.
Net income increased 11.5 per cent to a record 11.6 billion yuan, beating estimates, as BYD sold an unprecedented 1.12 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles and generated a gross margin of 21.9 per cent. Its profit, however, is still overshadowed by the US$2.2 billion Tesla earned.
In the first nine months, BYD had net income of 25.2 billion yuan on revenue of 502.3 billion yuan.
BYD and Tesla have emerged as leading threats to legacy automakers, particularly as Volkswagen, Ford Motor, Stellantis and General Motors struggle along the path to profitability with their EV transitions. As growth in consumer demand for fully electric cars wanes, BYD has been insulated more than Tesla due to its strong line-up of hybrid vehicles.
Hybrid vehicles were a major contributor to the revenue surge at BYD, with some models’ upgraded powertrains allowing for more than 2,000 kilometers of range. Another key part of BYD’s edge is its vertically integrated supply chain – making more parts in-house gives it a cost and scale advantage to produce cars more cheaply.
Tesla, meanwhile, is dealing with a limited and increasingly stale EV-only line-up and has been more focused on ramping up production of its Cybertruck and expanding the use of its partial-automation system marketed as Full Self-Driving.
Tesla’s AI potential and its lead in fully electric vehicle sales has helped cement its place as
