Tesla maintains BEV crown in 2023

Tesla has set a sales record in 2023 despite only offering handful of vehicles and launching just one new model last year – the Cybertruck.

The Texas-based electric car-maker released its annual sales report yesterday, confirming it producted 1.84 million battery electric vehicles (BEV) in 2023.

Shenzhen-based BYD built 1.6 million BEVs in 2023 but when global sales of its hybrid vehicles are lumped in – roughly 1.4 million – the total number of ‘electric-cars’ rises to just over three million.

BYD currently sells three BEVs in Australia – the Dolphin small car, Atto 3 small SUV, and Seal mid-size sedan – but offers a much wider range of vehicles in overseas markets, specifically China.

It’s expected that BYD will make it into the top 10 top-selling global auto-makers in 2023, after the likes of Toyota, Volkswagen and other leading automotive brands release their annual sales results.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, has made big gains in export markets like Europe and has already declared it will become Australia’s number-one new car brand, insisting it will knock Toyota off the top spot in due course.

The Chinese car-maker plans to do so via a number of affordable new vehicles, including a crucial new hybrid ute whose price will blow Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger “out of the water” a BYD Australia executive told carsales.

“We want to keep setting new benchmarks for what the new ‘affordable luxury’ is,” said Australia’s BYD importer Luke Todd.

“I can’t give you pricing for the ute because it is still in development but expect to see that we are always going to be extremely pricing competitive.”

For all of BYD’s gains, Telsa was still the world’s most popular battery electric car brand in 2023 and the Tesla Model Y was the top selling EV in Australia last year.

It’s almost certain that the Tesla Model Y will be the 2023’s best-selling vehicle globally – BEV or otherwise – with the Toyota Corolla expected to nab second spot.

The polarising US car-maker launched an updated Tesla Model 3 mid-size sedan in many major markets in 2023 (but not yet USA) and although it doesn’t have a cheap hatchback or compact SUV to match BYD’s growing portfolio, the Tesla Model 2 should remedy that in the next few years.

Reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is negotiating to build a new factory in India to kick start Tesla Model 2 (aka Tesla Model Q) production would help lower the price of the vehicle, as will its next-gen vehicle platform architecture that is claimed to reduce production costs by up to 50 per cent.

It should be noted, however, that sales of BYD's battery electric vehicles accelerated strongly in the final quarter 2023 to 526,000 units, marking the first time BYD has ever outsold Tesla (484,500) in a single quarter.

Tesla comfortably outsold BYD in Australia in 2023 and we’ll have all the facts, figures, numbers and sales data via VFACTS tomorrow January 4, 2024, after lunch.