BYD Q4 Profit Surge 73% to Record, First Overtakes Tesla by Annual Sales

TMTPOST -- China's No. 1 electric vehicle maker BYD Company Ltd. Posted stellar performance last year and for the first time overtook Tesla Inc. by annual sales.

BYD’s top and bottom line for the quarter ended December 31 beat Wall Street expectation. Revenue climbed 52.7% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB274.85 billion (US$37.89 billion), refreshing the quarterly record set three months ago. The electric vehicle (EV) giant first record revenue topping RMB200 billion in a quarter with 24% YoY rise from July to September.

Net income surged 73.1% YoY to a new record of RMB15.02 billion (US$2.07 billion) for the December quarter, accelerating from a 18.12% YoY increase for the previous quarter. Analysts anticipated revenue of US$37.3 billion and net income of US$1.98 billion.

For the full year 2024, BYD set another revenue record with RMB777.1 billion (US$107 billion), representing a 29% increase from a year earlier. That was also better than analysts’ estimated RMB766.0 billion. The net income rose 34% YoY to RMB40.25 billion, ahead of expected RMB39.5 billion.

Last year saw BYD annual sales first soared past the US$100 billion mark, and exceeded the US$97.9 billion Tesla notched in a year. Tesla total sales for 2024 dropped 1% from a year earlier, suffering its first annual sales decline in more than a decade.

In the third quarter of the year, BYD first trailed Tesla as the No. 1 EV maker by quarterly sales. Tesla generated US$25.2 billion in the September quarter while BYD reported revenue of around US$28.2 billion. BYD's leading benefited from its ability to insulate more than Tesla due to its strong lineup of hybrid vehicles as growth in consumer demand for fully electric cars wanes.

BYD sod about 4.272 million new energy vehicles (NEVs),including electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, for 2024. That cemented the company’s leadership in China’s auto market as well as the worldwide NEV market. Whereas, BYD’s 1.76 million units of full electric vehicle sales for the year were still shy of Tesla’s 1.79 million vehicle.

With a 41.26% increase in sales from a year ago, BYD sold more than 4.27 million NEVs for the whole year 2024, representing average daily sales of 11,700 units. That even surpassed sales of many emerging EV startups in a week.

During the year 2024, BYD annual sales for the first time surpassed other China’s automakers after SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. held its crown as top-selling Chinese automaker for the 18th consecutive year. The state-owned SAIC sold 5.02 million vehicles in 2023, nearly 2 million vehiles more than BYD annual sales that year, according to data released by these two companies. However, BYD overtook SAIC a year later as annual sales of the latter were 259,100 vehicles less than the former.

BYD further widened the sales gap with Tesla this year amid growing public backlash against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s political activities. The billionaire has increasingly inserted himself into European politics, vocally supporting right-wing parties such as Reform Britain and Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Tesla sales in Europe crashed these months.

New EV registrations in Europe grew by 34% to 124,341 units in January, capturing 15% of the local auto market share, up from a 10.9 share the same month of last year, according to trade body Acea. However, Tesla’s new car registrations across the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and the U.K. slid 45.2% year-over-year to 9,945 cars in January, with a market share of 1% down from 1.8% a year ago, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association showed.

January witnessed BYD for the first time outsold Tesla in Britain. BYD sold 1,614 passenger cars in Britain last month, surpassing Tesla’s 1,458 sales, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The figures mark a staggering 500% YoY increase for BYD.

Tesla sold 1,429 EVs in Germany in February, a YoY drop of 76% larger than the 60% decline a month earlier, according to Germany’s road traffic agency. The overall sales of EVs in the No.1 European economy popped 38% to 35,949 units. Tesla sales in Italy crashed 55%, in Portugal, France, Sweden, Netherlands down 53%, 45%, 42% and 24%, respectively, and down 48% in both Norway and Denmark, official data showed earlier this month.

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