far ahead of Tesla, but it's not thanks to its electric cars

Placed in 5th position in the world ranking of manufacturers, all engines combined, the company BYD, number 2 in electric cars behind Tesla, now comes 4th in August. If the Chinese firm largely surpasses Tesla, it is mainly thanks to the fact that it does not only sell electric cars.

Electric cars continue to progress, so much so that they sell significantly better in Europe than diesel cars. Their market share has exceeded the 20% mark for the first time this summer. And this is expected to continue over the coming months. Thanks in particular to the rise of Chinese brands, which is not necessarily a very good thing.

BYD is making progress

Indeed, the latter are more and more numerous on the Old Continent, while the Middle Kingdom is now the largest exporter of cars in the world. Which does not please European specialists at all, as well as Brussels, which has unveiled several measures to prevent this invasion. An investigation has also been opened against China regarding subsidies granted to its manufacturers.

Which does not prevent them from progressing for the moment. This is for example the case of BYD, which is currently the 2nd brand selling the most electric cars in the world. It is placed just behind Tesla and well ahead of Volkswagen, which remains lagging behind and whose sales are very disappointing. Which could change thanks to an evolution in design in particular.

But that’s not all, because BYD also progresses in the world ranking all engines combined. The firm was in fact placed in 5th position in July, and has just won 4th place as indicated in the press release published by TrendForce. The Chinese manufacturer overtakes Hyundai, with a market share of 4.8%. It was 4.7% a month earlier.

A good progression for the Chinese firm, which had already overtaken Volkswagen on its native market, and which is now hot on the heels of Honda. The German firm remains on the 2nd step of the podium, with a market share of 6.5%, but is still very far behind Toyota, which is at the top of the ranking and which represented 9.8% of new car sales around the world last August.

Take with a grain of salt

Suffice to say that BYD still has a way to go before really scaring the Japanese firm. However, the manufacturer is progressing well and is starting to establish itself well in Europe, while it already markets several models there, including the Atto 3, Han EV and other Tang, not to mention the Dolphin and the Seal. We also think of Denza D9 which we discovered at the Munich show.

But then, where is Tesla, who remains the world number 1 in electric ? Well, the brand is actually not even present in the top 10 manufacturers for all engines combined. How come BYD is overtaking it? Well quite simply because the manufacturer does not only sell electric cars !

According to the figures relayed by the site InsideEVsBYD sold 274,086 electrified cars in August worldwide. But of these, 145,627 were 100 electric while 128,459 were plug-in hybrids. Which changes the situation considerably, since Tesla only sells 100% electric cars. For the record, BYD produced more than 5 million electrified cars since its beginnings, according to a press release.

It is also the number of electric vehicles produced by Tesla since its beginnings (100% electric), and the brand could sell more than two million cars in 2023 worldwide. Compared to last July, 1% more electric cars were sold worldwide, i.e. a total of 5.55 million according to figures from TrendForce.