US EV maker Tesla delivered a record number of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023, beating market estimates and meeting its target for the year. But it lost its spot as the top EV maker to China’s BYD. While Tesla delivered 494,989 EVs in the October-to-December period, it fell short of the 526,409 units that Warren Buffett-backed BYD handed over – mostly in China. The figures are suggestive of the fact that car buyers were looking for cheaper models in a high-interest-rate economy.
Thanks to the US EV maker’s year-end sales push, it delivered 1.8 million vehicles this year but fell short of CEO Elon Musk’s ambitious 2 million annual internal target. The Chinese firm delivered a total of 3.02 million vehicles, including about 1.4 million plug-in hybrid EVs. It is suggestive of the fact that BYD’s deliveries show price cuts are working for the Chinese company, Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told Reuters. “The fight will hurt margins for both companies, but BYD clearly believes it’s a price worth paying to increase market share and recognition,” she added.
In a bid to boost deliveries, Tesla increased discounts and offered incentives like six months of free fast charging if customers took deliveries by December-end. The company was looking to boost sales before some variants of its compact Model 3 sedan lose U.S. federal tax credits in 2024. The move helped it post a growth of 11% over the immediately previous quarter and higher than estimates of 473,253, according to 14 analysts polled by LSEG.
In the fourth quarter, Tesla made a record 494,989 vehicles in the quarter after a production halt in the third quarter to upgrade assembly lines. Tesla’s delivery numbers are “much, much, much better than domestic U.S. car companies,” Gary Bradshaw, portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Hodges Capital told Reuters.