BYD stated on Monday that it manufactured above 3 million new energy cars in 2023, indicating that the Chinese electric vehicle corporation is on course to exceed Tesla's output for the second consecutive year. As of Tuesday, the American electric car maker had still not made its full-year statistics public. Even though it surpassed the 3 million figure, BYD's yearly sales marginally did not meet CLSA's prediction of 3.05 million vehicles.
BYD reported Monday that it produced over 3 million new energy vehicles in the year 2023, a figure that is likely to make it exceed Tesla's production on a consecutive year basis. While Tesla had yet to reveal its full-year figures as of Tuesday in Asia, the U.S. electric car company had generated 1.35 million cars the first three quarters of 2023. The preceding year of 2022, Tesla manufactured 1.37 million vehicles, in comparison to BYD's 1.88 million. New energy vehicles involve battery-powered and hybrid models. The majority of BYD's cars are priced lower than Tesla's and also come in hybrid renditions, while Elon Musk's automaker sells only fully-electric cars. China represented about one-fifth of Tesla's sales in the quarter ending September 30th. BYD shares witnessed a dip of over 2% in the Tuesday morning trading session in Hong Kong.
Despite exceeding 3 million units, BYD's yearly sales failed to achieve CLSA's projection of 3.05 million vehicles. According to BYD, they sold 3.02 million new energy cars in 2023, among which 1.6 million were all-battery passenger cars and the remainder accounted for hybrid models. The manufacturing of purely gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles ended in March 2022.
Competing for a spot in China's rapidly growing electric car market, numerous corporations have presented their fresh models. Xiaomi, a prominent Chinese smartphone company, last week stated its intention to have their EV model challenge Porsche and Tesla. Li Auto, whose shipment volume has reached unprecedented levels, is prepared to launch their very first battery-only vehicle, MEGA, on the 1st of March and commence delivering it by the end of the month. This is slightly later than the originally foreseen end of February deliveries. Having previously proven successful with cars that include a fuelling tank to recharge the battery and expand the mileage, Li Auto announced more than 50,000 cars were delivered in December, amassing a total of 376,030 for 2021, a 182% yearly increase.
On Monday, Xpeng began handing out its X9 MPV, with deliveries occurring as of that time. The Chinese EV maker relayed that its overall electric car deliveries for 2023 increased to 141,601 vehicles, a 17% rise from the year prior, and a high of 20,115 units in December. Huawei's new energy vehicles brand, Aito, claimed that orders for the M9 SUV had exceeded 30,000 within the first week since its launch. Mass deliveries of the M9 are due to commence by the end of February. Last year, Aito reported a total of 94,380 cars delivered, with 24,468 handed out in December. During 2022, the company provided over 75,000 vehicles since March. Zeekr, which is backed by Geely, started distributing its newest structure, the 007 electric sedan beginning on Monday. Zeekr's overall deliveries escalated to 118,685 cars in 2023, a 65% jump. Despite the figure being lower than Nio's overall sales of 160,038 vehicles, an increase of 31% over the year before, the company saw 18,000 cars delivered in December. Among other electric car producers in China, Nezha sold 127,496 cars in 2023. Aion, a spin-off from state-owned GAC Motor, achieved more than 480,000 vehicles sold in 2023, an increase of 77% from the year prior.
Nio and BYD, two Chinese electric car manufacturers, are expanding into international markets, especially in Europe. According to CNBC calculations based on available information, BYD sold 242,000 new energy passenger vehicles overseas in 2023. The Chinese EV company declared in December that it intends to construct a production facility in Hungary. It reported that it presently has five models accessible in Europe, and plans to present three more in the next year.
Nomura China autos analyst Joel Ying and a team said in a Jan. 2 note that, while the China market is one of the pioneers entering into the era of EVs, they believe that establishing factories in the overseas market instead of just shipping vehicles manufactured in China is the only way for Chinese carmakers to achieve long-term success in the global market. The report also mentioned that BYD, having already set up a bus factory in Hungary, is likely to minimize potential risks by building its first EU PV factory there. In December, BYD sold 36,095 new energy passenger vehicles overseas – a figure more than triple that of the same period in the prior year. – CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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