China's leading electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD has overtaken US electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla for the first time in quarterly revenue. BYD earned $3 billion more than Tesla in the July-September quarter.
According to the report of the British media BBC, BYD earned a total of 28.2 billion dollars in July-September, while Tesla earned 25.18 billion dollars. However, Tesla sold more cars than BYD during this period. BYD's revenue increased by 24 percent compared to the same period last year. Their net profit increased by 11.5 percent in one year.
In a filing with the capital market, BYD said net profit rose to 1,160 million yuan, or $1.63 billion, in the third quarter. In total, the company's net profit increased by 18.1 percent to 2,520 million yuan in the first nine months of this year.
According to the BBC, the Chinese government is subsidizing people to buy electric or hybrid cars instead of gasoline-powered cars. That is why the movement of such cars is increasing in China. According to Chinese government documents, more than 1.5 million applications for government subsidies to replace old cars with new electric cars were received last week as well.
According to research by the Swiss firm UBS, 60 percent of China's cars will be electric by 2030. Tesla's sales in China have been declining for a long time due to the rise of companies like BYD.
Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said, “Unless Tesla lowers its car prices in China, introduces new models, or introduces fully autonomous features, its growth potential here is slim.”
