BYD on track for global success

Consumers select new energy vehicles in a BYD 4S store on March 11 in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. (CAO JIANXIONG/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Chinese new energy vehicle maker BYD saw its 2024 total revenue rise over 29 percent year-on-year to 777.1 billion yuan ($107 billion), outperforming Tesla for the first time.

That brought its net profit attributable to shareholders to 40.25 billion yuan last year, up 34 percent from the previous year, according to the financial results released on Monday.

In comparison, Tesla's total revenue was $97.69 billion in 2024, a 1 percent increase from $96.7 billion in 2023. Its net income decreased to $7.13 billion, down from $15 billion in 2023.

BYD's core business — automobiles and related products — generated approximately 617.38 billion yuan last year, up 27.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 79.45 percent of total revenue. Tesla's automotive revenues fell 6 percent to $77 billion.

Meanwhile, revenue from BYD's mobile phone components, assembly and other product segments reached 159.61 billion yuan, representing a 34.6 percent increase and 20.54 percent of total revenue.

BYD's improved profitability can be attributed to multiple factors: the company's expanding market competitiveness coupled with economies of scale has helped lower unit production costs, widening its profit margins.

In 2024, BYD sold a total of 4.27 million new energy vehicles globally, marking a significant 41.26 percent year-on-year increase, of which 1.76 million were EVs.

Tesla's total sales fell 1.81 percent year-on-year to 1.79 million units in the same year.

The strong performance underscores BYD's growing dominance in the NEV market as it continues to scale production and expand its technological advantages.

Last year, China's NEV market totaled 12.86 million units, up 35.5 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Of those NEVs, 33.2 percent were produced by BYD, said the CAAM.

BYD's prowess in building affordable automobiles has made the company's cars a compelling option in China's highly competitive auto market, although it also offers vehicles with a price tag of over 1 million yuan, like its Yangwang series.

Its Seagull EV, priced from 69,800 yuan, features cutting-edge technology such as advanced driver assistance software. Called God's Eye, the software is becoming standard on all BYD models, said its Chairman Wang Chuanfu.

Last week, the automaker unveiled a new battery and charging system — dubbed the Super e-Platform — that can charge at peak speeds of 1,000kW, providing around 400 kilometers of range in just five minutes.

BYD's R&D expenses stood at 54.2 billion yuan in 2024, up 36 percent year-on-year, according to its financial results.

Analysts at Soochow Securities estimate BYD sales will hit between 5.3 million and 5.5 million units in 2025, up 25 to 30 percent year-on-year. They expect BYD's overseas sales to double from the 2024 levels to 800,000 units, as it takes on global rivals outside of China.

In January, BYD's sales in the United Kingdom surged 550.8 percent to 1,614 units, seizing 1.2 percent of the country's overall vehicle market share.

It is the first time that the company has outsold Tesla on a monthly basis in the country, which saw its sales fall 8 percent to 1,458 in the same month, said the country's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.