In a first, BYD to soon topple Ford on deliveries

China’s powerhouse BYD looks to soon outperform Ford in terms of annual shipments this year, which would be a major milestone for the company, placing it firmly in the ranks as a top 10 automaker globally, Bloomberg reports.

BYD sold 534,003 vehicles in October, a number that puts it nearly on par with Ford year-to-date, Bloomberg reports. Ford only reports its global sales on a quarterly basis but has been averaging around 1.1 million vehicles a quarter for the past three periods.

BYD has already topped Tesla on quarterly revenue for the first time, as Electrek reported. Tesla, for its part, fell short on expectations with $25.47 billion in Q3 revenue last week. Tesla’s gross margins climbed to 19.8%, compared to BYD’s gross margins reached 21.9% in the third quarter, up from 18.7% in Q2.

“Getting to four million is a stunning milestone,” auto industry consultant Michael Dunne told Bloomberg, referring to the company’s annual delivery target. “BYD will soon be seeing Ford in the rear-view mirror.”

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BYD looks to sail past its first Big Three Detroit automaker, with demand in China fueled by generous government subsidies encouraging people to trade in their older EVs or ICE vehicles for something new – with BYD offering a competitive lineup of hybrids that sells extremely well in China as well as BEVs.

BYD to soon outperform Ford on deliveries this year

In the third quarter, BYD managed to outsell Ford by 40,000 units, delivering some 1.13 million mostly passenger cars, as well as a few thousand trucks and buses, reports Bloomberg.

This week, BYD has decided to stall its plans to enter Canada, likely deterred by the country’s 100% federal tariffs on EVs imported from China and looming decisions coming from the US. The move puts a pin on the plan after months of legwork over the summer, with BYD execs meeting with dealers across Canada to discuss a possible distribution network of the brand’s vehicle and talking with lobbyists on how to get the federal government on board.

Newly elected US president Donald Trump, despite his new ties with Elon Musk, has said he would rescind funding for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes more than $8.5 billion in incentives to help Americans decarbonize their lives. Trump has said that vehicles made in Mexico would see as much as a 200% tariff, and vehicles from China, Europe, and elsewhere will likely see higher tariffs. Chinese automobiles are already blocked from coming the US by a 100% tariff.

After the election news last week, Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, and EV battery maker LG have all said that they are ready to work with Trump to ensure EV technology continues on pace.

However, the Big Three in Detroit – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler parent company Stellantis – will likely the biggest “winners” of Trump’s win, meaning they won’t have to decarbonize their portfolios and shift to EVs at any set pace, Reuters reports.

While BYD hasn’t yet reached the US or Canadian soil yet for passenger cars, the company doesn’t seem too troubled. BYD senior vice president He Zhiqi “bragged on his Weibo account earlier this month that BYD increased production capacity by almost 200,000 units in the August to October period by hiring around the same number of people for its assembly and components businesses,” Bloomberg reports.

Meanwhile, legacy automakers are struggling – cutting staff, slashing production, and trimming back forecasts. This week, Nisson announced that it was in “emergency” mode, selling part of its stake in Mitsubishi, slashing production capacity, and laying off 9,000 employees.

Last month, Volkswagen – which currently has 10 plants and 300,000 employees in Germany –reported its plan to close three German plants, the first time in the company’s 87-year history that it is closing factories on its home turf. The plan includes cutting tens of thousands of jobs and slashing pay for 10% of its remaining staff.

Back in the US, Stellantis is laying off 1,100 employees from its Toledo Assembly Complex.

“BYD has no peer in the world right now,” Big Three advisor Tu Le, of Sino Auto Insights, told Bloomberg. “Legacy automakers just seem to be collateral damage as BYD goes like a freight train toward becoming the largest automaker in the world.”

Photos: courtesy BYD

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