BYD tops Chinese car market as Tesla lags behind

A recent report by Sina Finance has shed light on the sales revenue rankings of car brands in China for 2024, and the results are quite interesting. For the first time Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has emerged as the leader, raking in a staggering $58.1 billion in sales revenue. This puts it well ahead of second-place Mercedes-Benz, which generated $42.5 billion. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that Tesla, which also benefits hugely from China's newfound love for EVs, finds itself lagging in sixth position with only $22.3 billion in revenue.

BYD's success is mostly due to competitive pricing, with an average transaction value of $16,700 per vehicle. This makes its cars accessible to a much wider range of consumers. BYD has been aggressively expanding its product portfolio, offering a huge variety of EVs and plug-in hybrids. This strategy has clearly paid off, with an impressive sales volume of 3.49 million vehicles in 2024.

While Mercedes-Benz sold significantly fewer vehicles (710,000 units), its higher average selling price of $59,500 allowed it to secure the second spot in terms of revenue. Volkswagen, another German automaker, came in third with $41.9 billion in revenue, thanks to a balance of volume (2.13 million units sold) and a respectable average transaction price of $19,700. But those numbers include sales of both electric and combustion-powered vehicles.

Tesla's ASP stands at $33,800, which is lower than premium brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW but is still higher than many domestic competitors. This is pricing it out of certain segments of the market. On top of that, Tesla has faced increasing competition from local EV startups like BYD, Nio, and Li Auto, which are rapidly gaining market share with their innovative and affordable offerings.

The report also highlighted the strong performance of Aito and Li Auto, two emerging players. Aito managed to secure seventh place with $21.4 billion in revenue with its high average transaction price of $55,500. Li Auto, with its extended-range electric vehicles, finally reached the 500,000 unit sales milestone in 2024, demonstrating the growing demand for its unique approach to electrification.

The report paints an interesting picture of the Chinese auto market. We'd love to see more detailed results focusing only on electric vehicle sales and respective revenue, but this report shows that Tesla is facing rapidly growing competition. The company might be a leader in EV sales - for now - but it is still lagging behind legacy automakers in one of its most important markets.

Via