The Warren Buffett-backed Chinese electric car maker has overtaken Tesla to lead the world after selling more electric cars in the first half of this year than Elon Musk.
BYD Motors has tripled production of electric vehicles (EVs) in just one year and delivered 641,000 vehicles in the first six months of 2022, nearly 100,000 more than Musk’s, London business Daily Telegraph Reports.
BYD’s production number, a flagship of Beijing’s growing technology ambitions, represents a nearly 325 percent year-over-year increase over the same period last year.
The newspaper reported that Tesla made 565,000 deliveries between January and June, which is an increase from the previous year but lower than expectations. Bank analysts expected Tesla to deliver an additional 96,000 vehicles in the second quarter.
The first car, the Qin Plus DM-i sedan, rolls off the assembly line at BYD’s new manufacturing base on June 30, 2022 in Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province in China. (VCG/VCG Photography via Getty Images)
Shenzhen-based BYD manufactures a range of electric vehicles including cars, buses and large cargo vehicles, with a solid financial investment from Buffett’s Omaha Group in Nebraska.
The buses sell primarily in the UK and have delivered the 1,000th electric public service vehicle in partnership with Scottish bus maker Alexander Dennis.
Tesla indicated in its reports that it faced supply chain challenges and factory closures throughout the year.
The telegraph The report shows that Musk laughed at both BYD and Buffett in 2011 when Berkshire Hathaway first invested in the Chinese company. He said:
I don’t think they have a great product. I don’t think it’s particularly attractive, the technology isn’t very powerful.
Obviously, the market thinks differently.
BYD’s sudden jump in production highlights China’s growing industrial power in the strategically important electric vehicle sector.
The company surpassed General Motors and Nissan Motor Co. in 2015 as the world’s best-selling electric vehicle brand before it was overtaken by Tesla a few years ago.
