Chinese carmaker BYD surpassed $100 billion in sales last year, beating rival Tesla and cementing the Shenzen-based company’s lead in China, the world’s largest car market.
Tesla is still far ahead of BYD in terms of market valuation, and is able to sell in more countries — high tariffs mean BYD is effectively blocked from selling its cars in the US, a major market, for example — but has seen diminishing returns in China in recent years. BYD, meanwhile, commands almost 15% of the market, driven by younger generations increasingly choosing cheaper, Chinese brands over foreign-made cars.
BYD’s most affordable models are cheaper than Tesla’s in at least 10 non-Western countries, according to an analysis by Rest of the World.
The earnings report comes just a week after BYD unveiled a new flash-charging system capable of giving its latest EVs enough battery to last about 250 miles within as little as five minutes.
