It's official: China’s BYD overtakes Elon Musk's Tesla as world's biggest EV maker

US car maker Tesla has delivered more vehicles than expected in the fourth quarter, though not enough for the Elon Musk-led company to stay ahead of Chinese firm BYD in global electric-car sales.

Tesla handed over 484,507 vehicles in the last three months, beating analysts' average estimate for 483,173 deliveries. BYD sold 526,409 fully electric vehicles in the quarter to become the new No. 1 in EVs, driven mainly by its much broader lineup of cheaper models in China.

The US-based car manufacturer run by billionaire Elon Musk delivered a record 484,507 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a company filing Tuesday - up more than 11 percent from the previous quarter.

But this impressive increase was not enough to maintain Tesla's title as the world's top maker of battery electric vehicles, as Chinese rival BYD reported sales on Monday of 526,409 for the same period.

In addition to delivering fewer vehicles, Tesla also trailed BYD in vehicle production in the fourth quarter. The figures underscore the challenges Tesla is likely to face this year, from competitors keen to capitalize on the growing demand for EVs.

Tesla's stock slipped after the news was announced, before regaining ground to finish broadly flat.

BYD 'STRUCTURAL ADVANTAGE': BYD began life in 1995 as a battery manufacturer, and later turned its attention to producing plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

The Shenzhen-based company competes against Tesla on price inside China and in Europe. BYD "has a structural advantage in as much as its expansion is underpinned by very strong support for electric vehicles by the Chinese government," GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders told AFP.

"This is helping to boost domestic demand which, in turn, strengthens BYD's hand in the export market," Neil Saunders added.

Despite strong sales, the firm does not currently sell its vehicles in the United States, where it would be subject to costly import tariffs.

As well as besting Tesla in pure electric sales, BYD sold more than 400,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the fourth quarter. In total, it sold more than three million passenger vehicles last year.

The change in EV sales rankings reflects China's growing clout in the global automotive industry. After surpassing the US, South Korea and Germany the last few years, China may have overtaken Japan as the world's largest passenger-car exporter in 2023.

TESLA ANNUAL SALES STRONG: Despite losing its quarterly sales crown, Tesla was still top on an annual basis, delivering more than 1.8 million EVs to customers in the year to December, up 38 per cent.

This was well above BYD's sales figure of just under 1.6 million, which represented a 73 per cent year-on-year increase.

Garrett Nelson, an equity analyst at CFRA Research, predicted that Tesla has plenty of reasons for optimism in 2024, not least the "plummeting" cost of electric batteries. Tesla sales are also likely to be boosted by the introduction of its "long-promised mass market EV model later this year," he said.

The company also stands to benefit from "increasing distress among upstart EV companies and traditional automakers pulling back somewhat on their prior EV growth plans," he added.

Musk added another model to Tesla's lineup late last year, starting sales of the Cybertruck years behind schedule. The company didn't break out how many of the stainless steel-clad pickups it produced and delivered before year-end.

The Cybertruck launch marked Tesla's entry into the highly competitive truck market in the US. Musk has cautioned that it may take the company 12 to 18 months to reach volume production and generate positive cash flow with the vehicle, which is difficult to build and packed with new technology.

Although Tesla doesn't break out quarterly vehicle sales by region, the US and China are its largest markets. The company makes the Model S, X, 3 and Y in Fremont, California, and the Model 3 and Y in Shanghai. It also produces the Model Y at its plants in Austin and outside Berlin.