French Analyst Says Warren Buffett, Government Support Behind BYD's Success

China’s BYD automaker surpassed U.S. rival Tesla for the first time in 2024 to become the world's top manufacturer of electric cars—an achievement that exceeded the expectations of the brand’s CEO, Wang Chuanfu, who had predicted it would outsell its fiercest competitor this year. For Elon Musk, it’s a hard pill to swallow, Nicole Trian reported for France 24.

BYD, or Build Your Dreams, registered sales of $100 billion in 2024, exceeding Tesla's $97.7 billion. I Photo: BYD Facebook

As U.S. President Donald Trump lashes out at vandals destroying Tesla vehicles as a political statement, Elon Musk is bracing for a threat to his empire.

The onetime king of electric cars—and far-right provocateur—has acquired a new nemesis, this time from China, whose name can be summed up in three letters: BYD. The Chinese automaker toppled Tesla recently to become the world's leading electric car brand.

BYD, or Build Your Dreams, registered sales of $100 billion in 2024, exceeding Tesla's $97.7 billion.

Despite ranking as the world's new No. 1 in electric vehicles (EVs), BYD remains largely unknown internationally. Its main market is China. “The domestic market accounted for around 85% of its sales in 2023,” says Gregor Sebastian, an EV specialist with the Rhodium Group.

When a journalist suggested in 2013 that the Chinese automaker was a serious competitor to Tesla, Musk burst out laughing.

“You’ve seen their car!” he replied. BYD’s early models hardly impressed industry specialists, ABC reported—except for legendary American investor Warren Buffett.

He was so convinced by Wang's vision that in 2009 he invested $250 million in BYD.

Buffett told Fortune magazine that part of what he saw in Wang was an unrivaled political and industrial acumen in adapting to China’s evolving industrial policies. Xin Sun, a specialist in Chinese industrial economics at King's College London, said that without government support 10 years ago, BYD might not have survived.