China’s BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s top EV seller for the first time

Chinese auto giant BYD on Friday dethroned U.S. rival Tesla as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles on a calendar-year basis. The milestone caps an extraordinary rise for BYD, a company Tesla CEO Elon Musk once dismissed by laughing at their products during a 2011 Bloomberg interview.

In a statement published Thursday, BYD said sales of its battery-powered cars rose nearly 28% to 2.26 million units. Musk openly laughed at the mention of BYD while being interviewed on Bloomberg TV in October 2011. He said he did not see the company as a competitor to Tesla, adding: “I don’t think they have a great product.”

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