China's BYD to overtake Tesla as world's most popular electric carmaker

Likely to happen in this quarter, it will be a symbolic turning point for the market

HONG KONG China's BYD bills itself as the biggest car brand you have never heard of. It might need a different tagline soon.

The automaker is poised to surpass Tesla as the new worldwide leader in fully electric vehicle (EV) sales.

When it does - likely in the current quarter - it will be both a symbolic turning point for the EV market and further confirmation of China's growing clout in the global automotive industry.

In a sector still dominated by more familiar names such as Toyota Motor, Volkswagen and General Motors, Chinese manufacturers including BYD and SAIC Motor are making serious inroads.

After leapfrogging the United States, South Korea and Germany over the past few years, China now rivals Japan for the global lead in passenger car exports.

Some 1.3 million of the 3.6 million vehicles shipped from China in 2023 as at October were electric.

"The competitive landscape of the auto industry has changed," said Ms Bridget McCarthy, head of China operations for Shenzhenbased hedge fund Snow Bull Capital, which has invested in both BYD and Tesla. "It's no longer about the size and legacy of auto companies; it's about the speed at which they

can innovate and iterate. BYD began preparing long ago to be able to do this faster than anyone thought possible, and now the rest of the industry has to race to catch up." The passing of the EV sales crown also reflects the shift in competitive dynamics between Tesla's Mr Elon Musk, the world's richest executive, and BYD's billionaire founder Wang Chuanfu.

Whereas Mr Musk has been warning that not enough consumers can afford his EVs with such high interest rates, Mr Wang is firmly on the offensive.