On Monday, BYD said that it has sold a record 526,000 battery-only vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023.

It was the first quarter in which its battery-only sales topped Tesla’s. Demand for the US-based company has slowed as borrowing costs rise.

However, Mr Musk’s Tesla sold more over the entire year of 2023.

Tesla announced on Tuesday that it delivered a record 484,500 electric vehicles in the last three months of 2023, and 1.8 million for the whole year.

Sales increased 20% from the same quarter in 2022 and picked up pace from earlier in 2023, above analysts’ expectations. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the quarter a “clear win” for Tesla.

However, it fell short of expectations. Mr Musk stated in January that Tesla might reach two million deliveries by 2023.

To entice buyers, the company constantly reduced pricing.

The achievement by BYD is a reminder of the obstacles that the company faced in helping to develop the electric vehicle sector.

“As BYD has accelerated into the fast lane, it’s fresh evidence of how competitive the EV market has become and how difficult it will be for Tesla to swerve back to lead the pack,” said Susannah Streeter, Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of money and markets.

BYD, located in Shenzen, sold more than 3 million so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs) last year, which included battery-only vehicles and hybrids.

According to the company, battery-only vehicles accounted for over 1.6 million of its total sales.

Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s CEO, co-founded the company with his cousin in Shenzhen in 1995.

The company earned a name for itself as a manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, which were used in smartphones, laptop computers, and other electronic devices, and competed with more expensive Japanese imports.