BYD Surpassed Tesla to Become the Bestselling EV Maker in H1-2022

BYD of China has outpaced Tesla to become the highest selling NEV maker during the first half of calendar year 2022. NEV (new energy vehicles) is a generalized Chinese term that includes EVs, PHEVs, and fuel-cell hydrogen vehicles (FCEVs).

BYD sold 641,350 NEVs, witnessing a year-on-year increase of 314.9%. BYD’s cumulative production volume was 647,914 NEVs, a year-on-year increase of 312.18%. In comparison, Tesla sold 564,000 EVs in the first half of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 46% from 386,200 vehicles in the first half of 2021. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an interview with Bloomberg that the biggest headwind to Tesla’s growth is supply constraints, not competitors. Musk said:

“The supply chain disruption in the past two years is absolutely a nightmare, one thing after another, and we are not out of the woods yet.”

BYD eyes 1.2 million annual NEV sales
In a recent investor conference, BYD revealed that its NEV annual sales target in 2022 is between 1.1-1.2 million vehicles, with ~600,000 EVs and ~500,000-600,000 PHEVs. In June 2022 alone, BYD produced 134,771 NEVs, a year-on-year increase of 216.7%, and sold 134,036 NEVs, a year-on-year increase of 224%.

In terms of individual sales performances, the BYD Han family sold 25,439 units in June, with cumulative sales exceeding 250,000 units.

2022 BYD Han EV front three quarter
The BYD Tang family sold 8,134 vehicles in June 2022, with a cumulative sales of more than 340,000 vehicles.