The Chinese EV maker
BYD
reported another impressive month, and quarter, of growth in the second quarter, besting even
Tesla,
which put up its own impressive numbers.
Sunday, BYD (ticker: 1211. Hong Kong) reported that it sold 251,685 electrified passenger vehicles in June. For the second quarter, that means BYD sold more than 700,000 EVs, up almost 100% from the same time last year.
BYD shares rose 4.5% in Hong Kong trading on Monday.
Tesla
stock was up about 6.8% in early trading Monday, while the S&P 500 was off about 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite added about 0.2%.
BYD sells both plug-in hybrid vehicles and all-battery electric vehicles. For the quarter, BYD sold roughly 350,000 battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, up more than 90% compared with last year.
Tesla (TSLA) sold about 466,000 BEVs around the globe in the second quarter. Tesla is No. 1 globally, but BYD leads in China. The vast majority of BYD’s sales are in China.
Tesla doesn’t report sales by geography, but the 466,000 number likely includes about 155,000 cars sold in China, up more than 70% over last year.
BYD’s 90% increase in sales is faster than Tesla’s 70%, but there are reasons Tesla grows slower in China than BYD does. For starters, Tesla makes more expensive vehicles, while less expensive cars are easier to sell.
And Tesla serves other markets from its plant in Shanghai. Some of Tesla’s Chinese output ends up in Europe and even Canada.
While BYD is growing faster, numbers from both companies show that the battle for EV leadership in China is a two-horse race. Both companies are growing faster than the market. Both companies have picked up market share in the first half of 2023.
Combined second quarter deliveries for
Li Auto
(LI),
NIO
(
NIO
) and
XPeng
(XPEV), for instance, totaled 133,258 units, up about 50% over last year. That is impressive growth, but not as fast as what the EV leaders delivered.
Li Auto
deserves some consideration, though. It increased sales by about 200% in the second quarter compared with a year ago. NIO’s and
XPeng
‘s deliveries both dropped from last year.
The competition for global dominance is becoming more of a close race. Over the past 12 months, Tesla has delivered about 1.6 million BEVs, compared with about 1.2 million for BYD. Tesla is about 35% bigger than BYD over that span. A year ago, Tesla was twice as large as BYD.
Tesla still has the edge over BYD in terms of market capitalization by a long shot. Tesla is worth north of $800 billion while BYD’s market cap is about $100 billion.
Tesla has extended its market-cap lead over the past year. Coming into Monday trading, shares were up about 12% over the past 12 months while BYD stock was down about 21%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up about 16% and 22%, respectively, over the same span.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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