BYD beats Tesla with over $100 bn revenue: How Chinese company is overtaking Elon Musk's EV giant in global market

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has surpassed rival Tesla with record revenue for last year as it accelerates its overseas expansion.

Shenzhen-based BYD on Monday reported 777.1 billion yuan ($107.2 billion) in revenue for 2024, as compared to Tesla’s $97.7 billion in revenue last year.

The revenue also represented a 29 per cent rise from the previous year.

In recent years, BYD has emerged as the clear leader in China's highly competitive EV market, which is the largest in the world.

The Chinese juggernaut's push into Europe helped It in challenging Tesla, whose sales in the continent fell following CEO Elon Musk's support for far-right political groups there.

Last week, BYD Vice President Stella Li had said that "registration numbers will jump" in Europe during March and April.

The company has launched major advertising campaigns including sponsorship of last year's European Championships in football and has opened numerous new showrooms across the continent.

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, places in Asia such as Singapore and Thailand, as well as Australia.

BYD profit & sales

BYD's net profit for last year rose to a record high of 40.3 billion yuan, up 34 per cent from 2023.

In January, the automaker had said that it sold nearly 4.3 million vehicles last year, up more than 40 per cent from the previous year.

Its monthly sales soared 161 per cent in February to 318,000 units.

BYD's publication of strong results comes after Tesla announced lower-than-expected profits for the fourth quarter of 2024 in late January.

BYD has forecast sales of between 5 million and 6 million vehicles this year.

Its sales in the first two months of 2025 are up 93 per cent year-on-year to 623,300 units.

New battery technology

Earlier this month, BYD's Hong Kong-listed shares rose to a record high after the firm unveiled new battery technology it says can charge a vehicle in the same time it takes to fill up a petrol car.

The "Super e-Platform" battery and charging system boasts peak speeds of 1,000 kilowatts and allows cars to travel up to 470 kilometres after a five-minute charge, the company claimed.

Tesla's Superchargers offer charging speeds of 500 kilowatts.

BYD has planned to keep boosting research and development while bolstering its product competitiveness, including in its focus on succeeding outside of China, chairman and founder Wang Chuanfu said in a statement.

Chinese auto brands in the era of intelligence-led vehicles were no longer merely followers, but rather at the forefront of the trend. They’re “daring” to be first in the world and are collaborating with other domestic brands to go global and move up the value chain, he also said.