Copyright © BusinessAMBE 2023

Automaker Tesla is growing like crazy, with a 35 percent year-over-year increase in production and 38 percent in deliveries. But CEO Elon Musk had been aiming for even more.

It is only a matter of time before the electric car sector has a new leader, and it will no longer be Tesla. Chinese manufacturer BYD is closing in. The difference now is very small: Tesla sold 1.8 million EVs versus 1.6 million for BYD, which also delivered 1.4 million hybrid vehicles.

In related news: Tesla just released its Q4 2023 production and delivery report.

  • Total deliveries Q4 2023: 484,507
  • Total production Q4 2023: 494,989
  • Total annual deliveries 2023: 1,808,581
  • Total annual production 2023: 1,845,985.
  • That's growth of 38 and 35 percent, respectively, over 2022, a year that had already seen 40 percent growth over 2021.

Zoomed in: It does fall short of the announced target.

  • Elon Musk has often set ambitious goals, aiming for 2 million vehicles produced by 2023.
  • It already became clear last quarter that this goal could not be met. Tesla executives had announced in October that the target had been lowered to 1.8 million vehicles produced for this year.
  • However, it is worth noting that deliveries in the fourth quarter exceeded analysts' expectations. They had bet on 477,000 vehicles sold.
  • Last point of interest in the report: there is no specific data for the Cybertruck, which was launched in December, or for the Semi, Tesla's electric truck.

Tesla will be caught up

Zoomed out: a two-way battle.

  • Since the beginning of last year, Tesla, which has a higher profit margin per vehicle than its competitors, has been waging a price war. This strategy continued last quarter, given "the period of economic uncertainty, higher interest rates and changing consumer sentiment," according to chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja.
  • The price war has hurt traditional manufacturers and young electric car makers, except for one company that can compete in this field: BYD.
  • The Chinese company has beaten Tesla in terms of production and deliveries for the second consecutive year, with more than 3 million electric vehicles produced and sold. But BYD also produces hybrid vehicles. In terms of all-electric vehicles, Tesla remains just slightly ahead.
    • But it is only a matter of time before the American manufacturer is overtaken.
  • For 2024, however, Elon Musk remains optimistic: "To state the obvious, it is not possible to always achieve a growth rate of 50 percent, otherwise you will exceed the mass of deliveries of the universe we know. But I think we will experience very rapid growth, much faster than any other automaker on earth," he said during the presentation of the report, speaking to CNBC. (cv/evb)

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