Chinese automaker BYD reported annual revenue of 777 billion yuan ($107 billion) for 2024, leapfrogging U.S. rival Tesla as competition between the two electric vehicle rivals heats up.
In a filing published Monday, BYD posted a 29% increase in revenue from the previous year, bolstered by sales of its hybrid vehicles. This figure exceeded the $97.7 billion annual revenue reported by Elon Musk’s Tesla.
Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, hailed the firm’s “rapid development” in 2024, noting the company became the first automaker globally to reach the milestone of rolling out 10 million new energy vehicles in November.
“BYD has become an industry leader in every sector from batteries, electronics to new energy vehicles, breaking the dominance of foreign brands and reshaping the new landscape of the global market,” Wang said in a statement.
The filing comes shortly after BYD announced a new battery technology that it claims can charge EVs almost as quickly as it takes to fill a gasoline car.
The automaker said last week that its new so-called Super e-Platform will allow cars that use the technology to achieve 400 kilometers (roughly 249 miles) of range with just five minutes of charging. CNBC could not independently verify these claims.
Analysts hailed BYD’s new battery platform as “out of this world” and suggested the development could lead to a profound change of behavior among EV owners.
Hong Kong-listed shares of BYD have rallied 46% year to date.
Shares of Tesla, meanwhile, have tumbled more than 31% so far this year, amid rising consumer boycotts and plummeting demand globally driven in part by Musk’s rise as a hard-line conservative political figure.
