BYD Overtook Honda And Nissan In Sales Last Quarter

It turns out that people really do want cheap electric cars. If the trend continues, it won't be long until BYD passes Ford.

By: Rob Stumpf

Aug 23, 2024 at 4:40pm ET

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BYD's sales volume has increased by 40%, making it the seventh-largest global automaker by volume.
The company sold more cars than Honda last quarter, overtaking it for the first time ever.
BYD isn't far behind Ford in terms of global quarterly sales, and could overtake the company if it can keep its momentum up in the face of new tariffs.

Chinese automaker BYD is knocking it out of the park. The marque's sales have skyrocketed in recent months, climbing 40% between April and June. It's now sold a whopping 980,000 vehicles so far this year.

That uptick in sales volume has paced BYD to overtake a number of legacy automakers for the second quarter, including its two most recent opponents: Nissan, and for the first time ever on a quarterly level, Honda.

BYD

Last year, BYD ranked as the world's 10th-largest automaker by volume after selling 700,000 vehicles by the end of Q2. This year, it's ranked 7th according to Nikkei.

To further put BYD's success into perspective, the only Japanese automaker to have sold more vehicles than BYD in 2024 is Toyota. Toyota landed in first place with 2.63 million units sold. Next up on BYD's hit list is Ford, which has sold 1.04 million vehicles so far this year., followed by GM with 1.29 million units.

A good chunk of BYD's success was its overseas sales. The automaker managed to account for around 4% of China's total 2.79 million vehicle exports—that's 105,000 units. That might not seem like a lot, but the total figure means BYD has nearly tripled the number of exported vehicles despite international tariffs being a growing concern.

Other sales drivers include revamped tech, price cuts, and the sale of BYD's affordable home-market EVs like the Seagull, which sells for just under $9,800.

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This sales volume points towards BYD continuing to make big strides throughout the year. If the automaker continues to sell in record volume, it could outpace Tesla (even though it didn't manage to do so in Q2).

However, with looming tariffs in Europe driving up the cost of its vehicles, BYD may face some slower growth for the remainder of the year. That hasn't stopped it from exploring its options, though. The brand is currently evaluating space in Mexico for a new production facility and is planning to expand into Canada. As of now, BYD is not planning to sell vehicles in the U.S., but if the day comes, the automaker will have to find a way to defeat a 100% import tariff on its EVs.