BYD could overtake Ford in 2024 sales after record third quarter
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Electric and plug-in hybrid specialist BYD could surpass Ford in its annual sales this year as the Chinese brand continues to gain momentum.
BYD is on track to overtake Ford for global sales in 2024.
In October, BYD sold 534,003 vehicles globally – including trucks and buses – after it narrowly toppled Ford in the third quarter of 2024 by 40,000 units with 1.13 million sales, Bloomberg reports.
Ford has delivered 3.3 million vehicles globally in the first nine months of 2024 – with 1.1 million deliveries between July and September – while BYD shipped 3.25 million vehicles to the end of September.
In 2023, BYD sold three million vehicles while Ford delivered four million – however the Chinese brand has already surpassed its full-year 2023 sales with the final three months of 2024 still to be counted.
It follows confirmation BYD topped the revenue of US rival Tesla for the first time in the third quarter of 2024 at 201 billion yuan ($AU42.6 billion) compared to $US25.2 billion ($AU38.7 billion) over the same period.
BYD is the number-one carmaker in China – the world's biggest new-car market – ahead of Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Changan, and it sells the most electric vehicles with a 26 per cent market share in 2023.
MORE: BYD revenue tops Tesla for the first time
Some carmakers, including Ford, have found it challenging to gain traction in the lucrative Chinese market.
BYD does not sell vehicles in the United States and Canada – the leading market for Ford – although it has investigated building a factory in Mexico as a way to enter the region without incurring import tariffs.
However during a campaign rally in May, now-US president-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 per cent import tariff on any Chinese electric vehicle – essentially doubling the price – even if it is manufactured in Mexico.
BYD launched in Australia in 2022 under third-party distributor EVDirect, initially with the electric Atto 3 small SUV and later the Dolphin hatch and Seal sedan in 2023.
MORE: Donald Trump threatens to tax Chinese cars out of the US market
It launched its first plug-in hybrid vehicle in mid-2024, the Sealion 6 midsize SUV, while orders for the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute opened in late October.
In Australia, BYD sold 16,913 vehicles between January and October 2024 – led by the Atto 3 EV and Sealion 6 PHEV – compared to 83,145 Ford sales dominated by the Ranger and Everest.
The Ford Ranger is Australia's best-selling vehicle year-to-date.
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