China's leading plug-in car manufacturer has been growing its model portfolio, geographic reach, and production capacity….to surpass Elon Musk's Tesla.Although Elon 

China's leading plug-in car manufacturer has been growing its model portfolio, geographic reach, and production capacity….

Although Elon Musk's business currently leads the world, other affordable options have entered the fray.

The International Energy Agency noted BYD's growth as being "especially impressive" in its 

. Despite not even ranking among the top six producers in 2020, the automaker became the third-largest producer of EVs in the world in 2021, after the American company Tesla and the German Volkswagen Group.

In the past, betting against Tesla has generally been a bad bet, but experts believe a new EV volume leader may emerge by the end of 2023. 

In the past two years, BYD has significantly increased its model portfolio, geographic reach, and manufacturing capability. If you count the company's plug-in hybrid electric cars, it already 

, and its sales of pure electric vehicles increased to almost 911,000 last year from 321,000 the year before.

Analysts still anticipate a 30% to 40% increase in Tesla's sales in 2023. However, the macroeconomic environment is swiftly changing, and rising mortgage rates, declining housing prices, and ailing stock markets are all beginning to have a significant impact on consumers' purchasing decisions. Additionally, as the rivalry intensifies, Elon Musk's Twitter antics are turning off some potential customers.

The BYD Company's automotive division, BYD Auto, was established twenty years ago to create trucks, forklifts, buses, and passenger cars specifically for China. The company has recently shifted its manufacturing concentration to BEVs and plug-in hybrid EVs while also starting to produce rechargeable batteries and eBikes. Additionally, BYD has manufacturing facilities in South America and distributes electric vehicles in Thailand and Australia.

With its position as China's top EV seller and a close second to American EV industry leader Tesla in global EV sales, 

BYD is making its debut in the fourth-largest auto market in the world.

BYD started selling electric cars in Japan as part of its global strategy to displace more prestigious brands. BYD has lately started exporting to Thailand, where it aims to build its first ASEAN production hub, and to India, which is home to a budding EV market, in an effort to reduce the gap.

The vertically integrated supply chain of the Chinese EV behemoth has helped it weather most manufacturing hiccups. 

With almost 230,000 automobiles produced and delivered, November 2022 set another record.

The automaker is now planning to start sales in the UK, a significant worldwide market that is expanding significantly for EVs in particular. One where Tesla, the current market leader in terms of sales, can still be challenged by BYD. 

BYD has made no apologies for saying that its BEVs are built to compete with Tesla

, and some have predicted that BYD will surpass Tesla in worldwide EV sales this year.

By the first quarter of 2023, BYD will likely match and possibly surpass Tesla in sales of pure electric vehicles, thanks to its continued growth. BYD's lower revenue and profitability compared to Tesla have drawn criticism, but the Shenzhen-based giant may narrow this gap by expanding its lineup to include more high-end cars.

In a 2011 interview, Elon Musk criticized BYD make, saying, "Have you seen their car? I don't think they make a good product." A little over ten years later, the BYD company, backed by Warren Buffett, is outselling Tesla and is on a more promising trajectory. 

Is Tesla's total dominance of the electric vehicle market coming to an end?

BYD provided a preliminary projection of net profit for 2022 on January 30. It was more than five times more than in 2021 at $2.4–2.5 billion. 

According to Mr. Ogan of Snow Bull Capital, the gross margin of BYD's auto division in the most recent quarter topped that of Tesla, the largest automaker by profitability up until that point. He thinks this reflects the fact that BYD is progressively offering higher-margin premium EVs, even while its main business is producing plug-in vehicles for the mainstream market. 

In contrast to Tesla, it frequently releases new models and offers a wide selection of ranges and designs.

Pricing tactics will play a significant role in the outcome of this close election. 

 is demonstrating its readiness to engage in a price war to maintain its volume growth with recent significant price reductions in the US and Europe and those already in effect in China. 

BYD, Tesla and Global Electric Vehicle Supremacy

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