Tesla remains the king of EV sales after 2023, but there are signs its reign may be nearing its end.
Elon Musk’s car company announced that it delivered more than 1.8 million EVs worldwide last year, according to Autoweek. Not far behind, though, was China’s BYD, which sold 1.6 million battery-powered cars and SUVs over the same period.
The EV giant released its production and delivery numbers for the fourth quarter of 2023 earlier this week, as well as its global year-end totals. The latter figures state that the company built 1,845,985 EVs last year, and delivered (or sold) 1,808,581. Both numbers are records for the company, with production increasing by 35 percent and deliveries by 38 percent compared to 2022, which had been the previous high-water mark for both categories.
The Tesla Model 3 continues to be a bestseller
Tesla Model 3
The overwhelming majority of EVs built and sold by Tesla are the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV (pictured at top), which was the best-selling vehicle in the world during the first quarter of 2023. The announcement revealed that the two models made up 1,775,159 (or 96 percent) of the vehicles it built and 1,739,707 (96 percent) of the vehicles it sold.
As strong as those numbers may be, another marque is growing larger in Tesla’s rear-view mirror. Chinese brand Build Your Dreams, better known as BYD, sold 1.6 million EVs in 2023, which was the second most worldwide and represented a 62 percent year-over-year increase. The brand, which outsold Tesla globally last quarter, also delivered 1.4 million plug-in hybrids. That means that it sold over three million electrified vehicles last year, which was more than any other automaker.
BYD sold the second most EVs globally in 2023
BYD
The competition may be catching up, but the numbers suggest that Tesla’s strategy of aggressively slashing prices across its lineup paid off in 2023. We’ll have a better idea on January 24, which is when the company is scheduled to release its financial results for the past year.
It would not be a shock to see the company continue the practice in 2024, especially since some of its more popular models are no longer eligible for U.S. tax credits, according to Reuters. The financial news wire reported that the eagerly anticipated Cybertruck won’t be eligible for the credit, though the automaker has denied this.
