BYD’s record-breaking year is paying dividends. Despite its vehicles selling for less than $17,000 on average, BYD topped Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, ranking first in car sales revenue in China last year. After taking the market by storm in 2024, the world’s largest EV maker aims for even more growth this year.
BYD ranked first in car sales revenue in China in 2024
BYD capped off an impressive run in 2024, selling over 500,000 vehicles for its third straight month in December. The year-end sales push bumped BYD’s total passenger car sales to over 4.25 million passenger vehicles last year, up 41% from about 3 million in 2023.
After topping Volkswagen to become China’s largest car maker in 2023, BYD became the country’s largest auto group in October 2024, surpassing SAIC. SAIC has joint ventures with Volkswagen and GM.
Not only is BYD selling more cars than its overseas rivals, it’s also making more on vehicle sales. According to China’s Sina Finance (via CarNewsChina), BYD ranked first among automakers in China in car sales revenue last year.
BYD sold 3.49 million vehicles in China, generating 420.7 billion yuan, or around $58 billion. Mercedes-Benz was second, with 710,000 cars sold for 307.9 billion ($42.5 billion) in revenue.
Volkswagen placed third with 2.1 million vehicles sold in 2024 and 303.2 billion yuan ($41.9 billion) in sales revenue.
The most interesting part is that BYD’s average selling price (ASP) per vehicle was just $16,700 (121,000 yuan), compared to Mercedes-Benz’s $59,500 (430,000 yuan) and Volkswagen’s $19,700 (143,000 yuan).
| Ranking | Automaker | Average Vehicle Selling Price (*USD) | Vehicle Sales Revenue (*USD) |
| 1 | BYD | $16,700 | $58.1 billion |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz | $59,500 | $42.5 billion |
| 3 | Volkswagen | $19,700 | $41.9 billion |
| 4 | Toyota | $23,300 | $36.7 billion |
| 5 | BMW | $46,900 | $32.7 billion |
| 6 | Tesla | $33,800 | $22.3 billion |
| 7 | Aito | $55,500 | $21.4 billion |
| 8 | Li Auto | $42,000 | $21.1 billion |
| 9 | Honda | $20,800 | $17.8 billion |
| 10 | Geely | $12,700 | $13.2 billion |
BYD beat out Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Toyota, BMW, and Tesla even with a significantly lower average selling price.
Electrek’s Take
After BYD stopped making fully gas-powered vehicles in 2022, the company has become a force in the auto market. With over 1.76 million EVs sold in 2024, BYD ranked second, slightly behind Tesla, which delivered over 1.78 million vehicles.
Despite this, BYD was the “world’s top EV maker,” beating out Tesla with about 4,500 electric cars produced in 2024.
With China becoming saturated with domestic rivals, BYD is aggressively expanding overseas to drive growth in 2025. Last year, it sold more EVs in Japan than Toyota, and it was BYD’s first full sales year in the country.
BYD was Singapore’s best-selling car brand last year, the first Chinese automaker to achieve this feat. With plans to rapidly expand in Europe, Central and South America, and other key regions, BYD is poised to see even more growth in 2025.
Although it’s best known for low-cost electric cars, like the Seagull, which starts at under $10,000 in China, BYD is quickly expanding its lineup with new pickup trucks, smart SUVs, off-road models, and electric supercars rolling out.
Earlier this month, it launched the world’s largest car carrier, which will ship up to 9,200 vehicles overseas as BYD prepares for another big year in 2025.
Source: CarNewsChina, Sina Finance
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