Chinese automaker BYD said Monday it has reached its sales target in 2023, exceeding 3 million passenger electric vehicles, of which more than half were battery electric vehicles, Kallanish reports.

The sales performance translates as a 61.8% increase year-on-year; broken down as 1.6m BEVs and roughly 1.4m plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). 

In December, BYD’s EV sales reached 341,043 units. Within this total, 340,178 units were passenger cars, an on-year increase of 45% and an on-month increase of 12.87%. Last month’s sales consisted of 190,754 PHEVs and 149,424 BEVs.

The manufacturer exported 36,095 units of passenger cars – an on-month increase of 17.85%. December was the third consecutive month that BYD’s export volume exceeded 30,000 units. In the entire year, exports totalled about 242,000 units.

The Shenzhen-based firm has been challenging Tesla’s status as the world’s biggest-selling EV manufacturer. However, a confirmation on whether it has succeeded is expected on Tuesday once Tesla publishes its December delivery figures. BYD sales include both BEV and PHEV, whilst Tesla’s are BEVs only.

In a statement, BYD also said its Denza 50-50 joint venture with Mercedes-Benz sold 11,929 units in December. The luxury electric car brand’s Denza D9 model was deemed 2023 sales champion in the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) market in China with 10,492 units sold in December. Sales had been over 10,000 units for the past ten months.

Denza will have two new models coming up in the first half of 2024, as well as a software upgrade, expected to drive sales increase. According to Zhao Changjiang, Denza’s sales general manager, the brand will enter Macau and Hong Kong this year.