Tesla, BYD Break China Delivery Records as EV Rivalry Goes Global

BYD made almost 95,000 EV deliveries in September—a record high for the Shenzhen-based company. BYD’s sales, including hybrids, totaled 201,000 units in September, also a record.

The rivalry between the world’s leading EV companies intensified this year after BYD—which counts Mr. Musk’s fellow billionaire

Warren Buffett

among its key investors—abandoned the production of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles to fully focus on new-energy cars.

BYD has dominated the Chinese domestic market this year, defying supply-chain disruptions and shortages of chips and raw materials for batteries that have plagued other manufacturers, including Tesla. The company’s monthly year-over-year sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have risen more than threefold on average this year.

Behind the growth is the company’s ability to produce its own batteries as well as many of the parts its vehicles use, ensuring stability along its supply chain.

Tesla, meanwhile, lost ground after suffering production hiccups from Covid-19 lockdowns in Shanghai earlier this year.

In July, Tesla suspended operations for several days to upgrade its assembly lines for increased production capacity. Its Shanghai plant can now crank out more than 750,000 units a year, the company said at the time.

Tesla said last week it delivered 343,830 EVs globally during the quarter ended Sept. 30. Vehicles from Shanghai made up about 54% of its global deliveries during this period, up from 44% in the second quarter, according to calculations based on the association’s data.

While Tesla tussles with BYD in its home market, the Shenzhen-based auto maker is also expanding abroad. Last week, German rental-car company

Sixt SE

said BYD will supply its fleet with several thousand EVs by the end of this year. The initial commitment will pave the way for the German company to purchase a total of 100,000 EVs from BYD by the end of 2028, Sixt said.

BYD’s foray into Europe began with supplying electric buses for public transport in countries including the U.K., Sweden and Spain. Last year, it exported 100 Tang sports-utility EVs to Norway.

This past summer BYD announced partnerships with dealers in several European countries to distribute its vehicles. By September this year, BYD began selling its EVs to customers in Australia. It exported some 7,000 EVs or plug-in hybrids from China that month, according to company data.

The company announced European presale prices for three of its popular passenger EV models two weeks ago. They will be made available to customers in Scandinavian countries but also in Luxembourg and Germany, the home turf for legacy car brands such as Volkswagen AG. Sales will roll out to France and the U.K. by the end of this year, the company said.

And as it seeks to capture the global market for EVs, BYD is moving to produce more passenger cars overseas. Last month it secured a deal with Thai industrial-estate developer WHA Group to set up an overseas passenger EV factory on the east coast of Thailand. The plant is expected to deliver 150,000 passenger EVs in 2024, WHA said at the time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Musk weighed in on China’s thorny territorial issues during an interview with the Financial Times. Mr. Musk suggested that a special administrative zone should be set up for the self-governed island of Taiwan, similar to Hong Kong’s relationship with the Chinese mainland. His comments were welcomed by Chinese Ambassador to Washington Qin Gang, who on Sunday tweeted his thanks to Mr. Musk for the suggestion.

China regards Taiwan as an integral part of its territory, to be reunited with the motherland by force, if necessary.

Write to Selina Cheng at selina.cheng@wsj.com