SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s biggest electric vehicle maker BYD will show further gains in market share when November vehicle sales figures are released on Monday, putting it on track to exceed its annual target and overtake Ford and Honda in global sales.
BYD has been on a remarkable expansion spree this year, ramping up capacity and undertaking a massive hiring spree to generate turbocharger revenue, which overtook EV leader Tesla in the third quarter.
With strong sales in China continuing in recent months, BYD is now on track to surpass its annual sales target of 4 million vehicles, more than Japan’s Honda and Detroit’s Ford in worldwide sales in 2024.
The Chinese electric vehicle giant shipped 3.76 million vehicles in the first 11 months of this year, including 506,804 units sold in November.
Its strong sales, driven by a competitive lineup of models with the latest plug-in hybrid technology, are likely to show the company has increased market share when the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) releases industry-wide vehicle sales figures in November.
As of October, BYD’s share of the Chinese auto market, which accounts for more than 90% of its total sales, was 16.2%, up from 12.5% ​​in 2023, according to CPCA data. By comparison, Volkswagen’s two joint ventures with SAIC and FAW Group took a combined market share of 12.5% ​​in the January-October period, compared with 14.2% last year.
If that sales momentum continues, BYD could sell more than 6 million units in the next 12 months, which would put it on par with leading global automaker groups such as General Motors and Stellantis.
The Chinese company aims to deliver 5-6 million cars in 2025, Citi analysts said in a recent note after a meeting with the automaker’s management.
BYD did not respond to a request for comment.
During August through October, the automaker added nearly 200,000 units to production capacity and hired 200,000 workers to make cars and parts, the executive said in November.
BYD’s total workforce was close to 1 million as of September, up from about 703,500 at the end of 2023.
Its efforts to increase volume have helped it outpace rivals in growth, better cost control and win a brutal price war in China that has squeezed many foreign automakers. BYD has asked dozens of its suppliers for price cuts, according to a recent state media report.
In the latest sign of foreign automakers’ deepening woes in China, GM said last week it would take more than $5 billion in charges for its China operations due to restructuring and the decline in the value of a joint venture that has suffered losses and slumping sales.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Qiaoyi Li and Brenda Goh; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Lincoln Feast.)
