Chinese EV giant BYD Co Ltd (OTC:BYDDY) overtook its American rival Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the fourth quarter of 2023 as the world's biggest battery electric vehicle seller. Tesla, however, took back the title in the first quarter of this year and has been holding on to it since.

What Happened: In the last quarter of 2023, BYD sold 526,409 battery electric vehicles, effectively replacing Tesla as the world's biggest seller of BEVs. Tesla in that quarter delivered just 484,507 units.

Tesla regained its position as the world's top seller of BEVs in the first quarter after selling 386,810 BEVs, 86,696 units more than BYD. Unlike Tesla which sells only battery electric vehicles, BYD also makes plug-in hybrids.

Quarterly BEV Sales: Tesla Vs. BYD

In Q2 and Q3 this year, Tesla kept its lead ahead of BYD in global BEV deliveries despite hardships.

In October and November, BYD cumulatively sold 387,679 battery-electric vehicles. The company now needs to sell around 112,400 BEVs in December to cross 500,000 BEV sales in a quarter yet again.

As for Tesla, it is unclear how many vehicles the company has sold thus far this quarter given it only releases sales data at the end of every three months.

For the full year 2023, Tesla delivered 1,808,581 vehicles around the globe. To mark a growth over last year, the company has to deliver at least 514,926 vehicles in the three months through the end of December. Tesla has not delivered over 500,000 vehicles in a quarter to date, making this an ambitious target.

Furthermore, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), the company is faced with demand challenges in the European Union which might weigh heavily upon the company's annual delivery target.

Financials:

For the third quarter between July and September, BYD's operating revenue rose 24% to 201.12 billion yuan ($27.55 billion), the company said in a filing.

Tesla, meanwhile, reported a total revenue of only $25.18 billion in the same quarter, making it the first time since 2022 that BYD has trumped Elon Musk's EV giant in quarterly revenue. BYD stopped making combustion engine vehicles in March 2022 to focus on electric vehicles.

Despite reporting higher revenue than Tesla in the third quarter, BYD's net profit continued to trail behind Tesla's net income of $2.167 billion. The company reported a diluted earnings per share of 4 yuan (55 cents) for the quarter, lower than Tesla's adjusted earnings per share of 72 cents.

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Photo: Tesla, courtesy Tesla Inc; BYD via Shutterstock