Advertisement
BYD beats Tesla in 2022 EV sales, as the world’s No 1 electric car seller vindicated Warren Buffett’s bet
- Sales of BYD’s wholly electric cars rose 4 per cent from November to 235,197 units last month, the Shenzhen-based carmaker said in a statement
- BYD’s 2022 deliveries rose to 1.86 million units, most of them to customers in mainland China
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
6
Daniel Renin Shanghai
BYD sold a record number of electric vehicles (EVs) in December and consolidated its position as the world’s largest seller of automobiles that run on non-fossil fuels, vindicating the faith placed in it by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Advertisement
Sales of BYD’s wholly electric cars rose 4 per cent from November to 235,197 units last month, the Shenzhen-based carmaker said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where its shares are traded. BYD more than tripled its 2022 sales to 1.86 million units, most of them in China.
Booming sales by the carmaker to taxi fleets and budget-conscious households underscore how lay-offs in China’s technology industry and the pandemic-ravaged economy are pushing buyers down market towards cheaper, locally made EVs, instead of imported models or foreign brands like Tesla.
“BYD is a beneficiary of the ‘consumption downgrade’ as the Chinese economy slows,” said Eric Han, a senior manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “Its mass market vehicles are well received by Chinese middle-class consumers as they are viewed as value-for-money products.”
Most BYD models are priced between 100,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan (US$29,000), a bargain compared with Tesla and other competitors such as Nio and Xpeng, whose technology-packed models sell for more than 300,000 yuan each.
Advertisement
China’s zero-Covid policy that resulted in lockdowns and standstill orders across the mainland in 2022 wreaked havoc on the world’s second-largest economy, with consumers tightening purse strings, particularly on big-ticket items like cars.
Advertisement