Chinese automaker BYD surpasses Tesla in revenue for the first time

shenzhen (anp/bloomberg) - Chinese automaker BYD reported higher revenue than American Tesla for the first time, boosted by sales of hybrid vehicles and increased domestic demand in China.

China's best-selling automaker, BYD, saw its revenue increase by 24 percent to 201.1 billion yuan, equivalent to around 28.2 billion dollars, in the three months ending in September. This surpassed Tesla's revenue of 25.2 billion dollars reported last week in the same period.

Despite the revenue exceeding expectations, BYD's revenue was lower than analysts had predicted. The Chinese automaker sold 1.12 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the last quarter, with a net profit increasing by 11.5 percent to 11.6 billion yuan (approximately 1.6 billion dollars).

Although the profit was higher than anticipated, it was less than the 2.2 billion dollars earned by Tesla in the last quarter.

Hybrid vehicles played a significant role in BYD's revenue growth, especially as consumer demand for electric cars remains subdued. BYD also benefited from the recovering domestic demand in China, driven by an improved package of government subsidies encouraging consumers to switch from petrol cars to electric or hybrid vehicles.

This week, the European Union imposed import duties of up to about 35 percent on electric vehicles from China, escalating trade tensions between the EU and China. The EU alleges that Chinese state subsidies to local car manufacturers lead to unfair competition.

In the United States, where higher import tariffs apply to Chinese electric cars, BYD does not sell passenger vehicles.