Top Electric Car OEMs By Sales In Q1 2023: Tesla Ahead Of BYD, But Where Is VW?

The Volkswagen Group is now far behind the two top OEMs.

Tesla Model Y

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Apr 28, 2023 at 8:23am ET

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During the first quarter of 2023, Tesla strengthened as the world's largest player in the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment.

In this post, we will take a look at the global sales results of the all-electric cars by the three largest manufacturers (OEMs) - Tesla (without trucks), BYD (without commercial vehicles and other brands) and Volkswagen Group (including Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat/Cupra and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands, but without trucks/buses).

BYD Atto 3

2021 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD exterior dynamic

Volkswagen ID.4 (AWD)

According to the available data, all three OEMs improved their results year-over-year. However, only Tesla set a new quarterly record (422,875), while BYD (264,647) and Volkswagen Group (140,852) noted a result lower than in Q4 2022 (VW Group is actually slightly behind Q3 2022).

BYD improved its sales by 85 percent, which is significantly more than Tesla (36 percent), although it remains around 160,000 units behind Tesla, just like a year ago. The key is that the difference is now relatively smaller than in Q1 2022. If Tesla wants to remain the top player in the long term, it must grow faster.

BEV sales results in Q1 2023:

Tesla: 422,875 (up 36% year-over-year)
BYD (cars): 264,647 (up 85% year-over-year) or 63% of Tesla's result
Difference to Tesla: 158,228 (down 5% year-over-year)
Volkswagen Group: 140,852 (up 43% year-over-year) or 33% of Tesla's result
Difference to Tesla: 282,023 (up 33% year-over-year)

Tesla vs BYD vs Volkswagen Group BEV Car Sales - Q1 2023

It seems that the Volkswagen Group has considerably weakened from a strong second place and is now third, with a noticeable and expanding gap to the Chinese manufacturer.

Nonetheless, the "race" continues, and all three manufacturers have the potential for further fast growth as electrification barely entered the mainstream and only in the wealthiest markets.

2022 results

For reference, in 2022, Tesla delivered more than 1.3 million electric cars (an increase of 40 percent year-over-year), BYD sold over 0.9 million (up 184 percent) and Volkswagen Group over 0.57 million (up 26 percent).

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BEV sales results in Q1-Q4 2022:

Tesla: 1,313,851 (up 40% year-over-year)
BYD (cars): 911,141 (up 184% year-over-year) or 69% of Tesla's result
Difference to Tesla: 402,710 (down 35% year-over-year)
Volkswagen Group: 570,737 (up 26% year-over-year) or 43% of Tesla's result
Difference to Tesla: 742,123 (up 54% year-over-year)