Chinese EV giant BYD's net profit increased 80% last year, surpassing Tesla in global sales

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

中国ＥＶ大手ＢＹＤ、昨年の純利益は８０％増　世界販売でのテスラ超え受け

2024.03.27 Wed posted at 13:56 JST

香港／ロンドン（ＣＮＮ） 中国の電気自動車（ＥＶ）大手ＢＹＤは２６日、昨年の純利益が８０％以上増加したことを明らかにした。同年には米テスラを抜いて、ＥＶ販売台数で世界一の座に就いていた。

ＢＹＤによれば、２０２３年の純利益は３００億元（約６３００億円）と、２２年の１６６億元（約３５００億円）からほぼ倍増。「複雑な外的環境」にもかかわらず、実績を伸ばしたと報告した。具体的には世界的な高インフレや、経済大国の大半で成長が鈍化している状況を挙げた。

ＢＹＤは昨年１０～１２月期にＥＶの世界販売でテスラを抜いて１位となった。同時期の販売台数はＢＹＤの５２万５４０９台に対し、テスラは４８万４５０７台だった。

２３年通年のＢＹＤの世界販売は過去最高の３０２万台。前年比で６２％の伸びを記録した。このうちテスラが販売していないプラグインハイブリッド車が１４４万台を占めた。バッテリー使用のＥＶの販売台数はテスラ１８０万台に対し、ＢＹＤは１５７万台だった。

ＢＹＤのＥＶはテスラよりも価格が安く、幅広い購買層へのアピールに寄与している。ＢＹＤのエントリーモデルが中国国内で１万ドル（約１５０万円）をやや上回る程度の価格で購入できるのに対し、テスラで最も低価格の「モデル３」の値段は３万９０００ドル近くとなっている。

しかし、昨年の激しい価格競争はＢＹＤを含む多くの中国自動車メーカーの利益幅に打撃を与えている。

中国乗用車協会（ＣＰＣＡ）の直近の数値によれば、同国自動車業界の２３年の利益幅は平均５％。２１年は同６．１％、２２年は同５．７％と低下が続いている。

Translation

Hong Kong/London (CNN) Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD announced on the 26th that its net profit increased by more than 80% last year. In the same year, it overtook Tesla to become the world's number one EV seller.

According to BYD, its net profit in 2023 would be 30 billion yuan (approximately 630 billion yen), nearly double the 16.6 billion yuan (approximately 350 billion yen) in 2022. It reported that the company had improved its performance despite a "complex external environment." Specifically, citing the situation of high global inflation and slowing growth in most of the world's largest economies.

BYD overtook Tesla to become number one in global EV sales in the October-December period of last year. During the same period, BYD sold 525,409 cars while Tesla sold 484,507.

BYD's global sales for the whole year of 2023 reached a record high of 3.02 million units. It recorded a 62% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, 1.44 million were plug-in hybrid vehicles that Tesla did not sell. On the number of battery-powered EVs sold, Tesla was 1.8 million compared to BYD 1.57 million.

BYD's EVs were cheaper than Tesla's, contributing to their appeal to a wide range of buyers. Compared to BYD's entry-level model could be purchased in China for just over $10,000 (approximately 1.5 million yen), Tesla’s lowest-priced Model 3 costs nearly $39,000.

But intense price competition last year had hurt the profit margins of many Chinese automakers, including BYD.

According to the latest figures from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the country's auto industry's profit margin in 2023 was 5% on average. It continued to decrease at 6.1% in 2021 and to 5.7% in 2022.

So, BYD announces that its net profit had increased by more than 80% last year, overtaking Tesla to become the world's number one EV seller. It is surprising to know that the price difference between the two companies is so huge: $10,000 compared to $39,000. I am wondering what are the reasons for that.