BYD EVs outsold Tesla in Q4 2023 – Chinese EV firms will demolish rivals without trade barriers, says Musk
The war between Tesla and BYD is intensifying, with the latter scoring a win recently by delivering more pure electric vehicles (EVs) in Q4 2023. Despite Tesla’s price cuts in 2023, the American carmaker delivered 484,507 EVs last quarter, which is less than BYD that managed 526,409 units.
However, it should be noted that Tesla still sold more EVs in 2023 with 1,808,581 units delivered against BYD’s 1,574,822 units. Will 2024 see BYD take the overall EV sales crown? We’ll have to wait and see.
BYD’s rapid ascent has attracted plenty of comments, with an X (formerly Twitter) user (@NicklasNilsso14) comparing the Chinese carmaker to Tesla in more detail – this was in response to another X user that claimed BYD and Tesla are not comparable.
One standout point mentioned in @NicklasNilsso14’s post was, “BYD is big, but have little to no software capability, so when Tesla hit their OTA with FSD, there would be not so big difference.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied to @NicklasNilsso14’s tweet by saying, “Tesla is an artificial intelligence (AI)/robotics company that appears to many to be a car company.”
Tesla is an AI/robotics company that appears to many to be a car company
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2024
@NicklasNilsso14’s comment didn’t sit well with Denza’s head of sales, Zhao Changjiang – Denza (also known as Shenzhen BYD New Energy) is a joint venture between BYD and Mercedes-Benz. As reported by Fortune, Zhao took to Weibo on January 24, 20 to respond to BYD’s supposed lack of software capability.
In his Weibo post, Zhao said BYD was “very strong now” and that Tesla will face serious challenge in regards to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) – software plays a big part – and car models in 2024. He also proclaimed Denza’s N7 will “change the landscape of the automotive market and triumph over the ‘Y’ model – a clear reference to the Tesla Model Y.
Confirmation of Tesla losing out to BYD in Q4 2023 came following the former’s recent earnings call announcement on January 24, 2023. In a post-earnings call with analysts, Reuters reports Musk said Chinese automakers were the “most competitive” and “will have significant success outside of China, depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers are established.”
“If there are no trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world. They’re extremely good,” he noted. Analysts were also bullish in regards to the competitiveness of Chinese carmakers, which are said to be fast-moving and adept at keeping costs in check with a stable supply chain. High demand in China and innovative technologies such as in-car infotainment and battery swapping are also differentiators that can drive overseas growth.
The mention of trade barriers is notable as the presidential election is gaining pace in the United States, with frontrunners Joe Biden and Donald Trump both looking to prevent Chinese carmakers from dominating the EV market. As reported by The Wall Street Journal last December, Trump is calling for a 10% tariff on all imports and higher levies on China.
It isn’t just the US that is concerned about Chinese-made EVs. In September last year, the European Commission launched an investigation to decide whether to impose punitive tariffs to protect European Union automakers against cheaper Chinese EV imports that it says are benefiting from state subsidies. China’s ambassador to the European Union, Fu Cong, told Bloomberg this week that the EU’s probe into Chinese EV makers over state subsidies was unfair and risked damaging ties.
Musk said in the post-earnings call that there was “no obvious opportunity” to partner with Chinese rivals, although Tesla was open to giving them access to its charging network and licensing other technologies such as self-driving.
Recently, it was reported that Tesla is preparing to start production of a new mass-market EV sometime in mid-2025. Codenamed Redwood, the model planned is said to be a compact crossover built on a next-gen platform dubbed NV9X and starting from USD25,000 (around RM118k). Such a model would allow Tesla to potentially capture a wider customer base, as some may lack the budget to procure Tesla’s current cheapest offering, the Model 3.
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