BYD surpasses Nissan amid record November sales as EV maker closes in on Tesla

China’s leading EV maker, BYD, notched another sales record in November. BYD continues surging, with over 170,000 fully electric vehicles sold last month. The strong performance propelled the automaker past Nissan for the first time in sales.

BYD sold a record 301,903 new energy vehicles in November, up 31% from last year. The figure includes plug-in hybrids (PHEV), but it was enough to surpass Nissan for the first time in monthly sales.

Nissan sold 279,102 vehicles, representing 5% growth over last year. BYD’s expansion comes as demand for fully electric cars continues climbing in key markets.

BYD’s pure EV sales rose to 170,150 units last month, up 3% from October’s 165,505 EVs sold. Meanwhile, PHEV sales sales fell 3% month-over-month.

EVs are playing a bigger role, representing 56.4% of total sales, compared to 54.9% in October and 52.5% in September.

The growth comes as BYD aggressively expands in international markets. BYD sold 30,629 NEVs overseas last month after launching new models in Japan, Europe, and other key markets.

BYD is already leading in overseas markets like Thailand, Brazil, and Columbia. It’s also expanding in Australia, India, Hungary, Mexico, and more.

BYD closing in on Tesla after November EV sales

The growth in November sales comes as BYD closes in on Tesla for the title of top-selling EV maker globally.

Tesla, which doesn’t release monthly sales updates, delivered 435,059 EVs in the third quarter. BYD came within 3,500 units in Q3, delivering 431,603 electric models.

With 335,655 EVs sold over the last two months, BYD is on track to end the year strong. Tesla aims to deliver 1.8 million EVs this year. Meanwhile, BYD has delivered 1.38 million electric cars through November.

Tesla hopes the launch of the Cybertruck can help lift sales into the end of the year. Both BYD and Tesla have aggressively cut prices this year to boost demand amid new competition.

BYD slashed prices again this month in a year-end promotion as the EV race intensifies. Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s CEO, said the company is fully prepared for a price war over the next three to five years earlier this year. He added that BYD is confident it will win market share during that time.

Electrek’s Take

BYD continues expanding the brand at an impressive rate. With low-priced models like the Dolphin (starting at ~$17K) and Yuan Plus (~$19K), BYD is hitting the sweet spot in the market.

The automaker released two new mid-size electric SUVs poised to rival Tesla’s Model Y. BYD’s Song L gathered 11K pre-orders in 17 days. It was revealed after the Sea Lion 07, its first “mid-size urban smart electric SUV,” last month.

With new models in key segments and a fresh round of incentives, BYD is making a strong push into the end of the year. This next month will be interesting as EV leaders compete for the top spot. Better yet, both are taking market share from legacy automakers that are falling behind in the EV era.