(March 24): BYD Co’s sales last year surpassed the US$100 billion (RM443.36 billion) mark, leapfrogging Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc on revenue, as the Chinese auto giant wows consumers with a range of electric and hybrid cars packed with high-tech features.

Shenzhen-based BYD reported revenue of RMB777 billion (RM475.04 billion) for the 12 months ended Dec 31, according to a filing late Monday, beating estimates for RMB766 billion. Tesla’s 2024 revenue was US$97.7 billion. Net income rose 34% year-on-year to 40.3 billion yuan, beating analyst estimates for RMB39.5 billion.

BYD has risen quickly to the top of China’s car market — the world’s biggest and most competitive in terms of electric vehicles. This year alone, BYD has unveiled a new ecosystem that allows EVs to charge for 400km in just five minutes and introduced advanced driver assistance technology in even its most basic models. Investors have sent its shares to a record and BYD’s Hong Kong-listed stock is up around 51% this year.

BYD also sells about the same number of EVs as Tesla — 1.76 million in 2024 versus 1.79 million — but, when all of its other passenger hybrid car sales are included, it’s much larger. BYD’s total deliveries last year climbed to 4.27 million, almost as much as Ford Motor Co.

BYD has forecast it can sell between five million and six million vehicles this year. It’s already off to a strong start, with sales in the first two months of 2025 up 93% year-on-year to 623,300 units.

One area where Tesla still clearly leads, however, is market valuation. The US carmaker is worth about US$800 billion despite a share-price rout that’s seen the stock plunge 38% this year. BYD has a market capitalisation closer to US$157 billion.

Musk’s EV maker also makes more money on an absolute basis; Tesla’s net income last year was US$7.6 billion.

But whereas Tesla is losing in China — shipments have been backsliding there for the past five consecutive months on a year-on-year basis — BYD is winning. China is still far and away BYD’s biggest market, where it commands a share of almost 15%, not just for new-energy vehicles but any sort of passenger car.

BYD doesn’t sell passenger cars in the US yet due to punitive tariffs on made-in-China automobiles but it’s made big inroads into markets in Europe and places in Asia like Singapore and Thailand, as well as Australia.

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