Chinese EV giant BYD Co Ltd (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) said on Tuesday that the company sold 417,603 new energy passenger vehicles in September, marking a jump of nearly 46% from last year, thanks to a major jump in plug-in hybrid vehicles sales.

What Happened: Pure EV sales of the Chinese player rose to 164,956 in September, marking a rise of 9% from the corresponding month of last year.

Plug-in hybrid passenger vehicle sales in the period rose 86.2% to 252,647 units.

The company also sold 1,823 commercial vehicles in September, including 306 buses.

Why It Matters: BYD is the biggest rival to American EV giant Tesla Inc. The company took over Tesla as the world's largest BEV seller in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, Tesla took back the crown in the first quarter of 2024 and has been holding on to it since.

Through the end of the third quarter, BYD sold 443,426 battery-electric vehicles. Tesla, however, is yet to report its delivery numbers for the quarter.

Tech venture capitalist and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster expects Tesla's deliveries for the quarter to come at around 452,000 units, trailing Wall Street estimates but higher than the 435,059 units the EV giant delivered in the third quarter of 2023.

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