BYD Overtakes Ford as World’s Sixth Largest Automaker in Q3 2024

BYD has surpassed Ford to become the world’s sixth-largest automaker in the third quarter of 2024.

Chinese automaker BYD continues its global domination plan by overtaking Ford to become the world’s sixth-largest automaker in Q3 this year, as it sold more cars than the American marque for the first time in its history. According to Nikkei Asia, should this positive projection continue, BYD could possibly end the year ahead of the Blue Oval marque, possibly breaking the four-million mark in the process too.

Part and parcel of BYD’s success of late is due to its stellar sales performance during the July-September period, where the automaker has sold a total of 1.13 million vehicles alone in said quarter. This represents a staggering 38% increase from the same period last year, thus making Q3 2024 the automaker’s most successful quarter ever.

The Blue Oval marque missed out in a rather close manner against BYD, as it sold approximately 40,000 fewer vehicles than the Chinese automaker over the same period, thus demoting its sixth-largest automaker position to seventh. However, Ford still holds on to a lead, albeit quite narrow, when it comes to vehicle sales from Jan to Sept 2024, having delivered 3.3 million vehicles globally, while BYD only managed to ship 3.25 million units.

Aside from BYD, other top Chinese automakers like Geely (left) and Chery (right) also posted positive sales growth in Q3 2024.

Besides BYD, other Chinese automakers have also enjoyed a period of success in Q3 this year, with Geely recording a positive Q3 sales result by delivering 820,000 units in said period—a 14% increase from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Chinese third-largest automaker, Chery, also recorded a positive increase in sales of up to 27% in said period with a total of 550,000 units sold globally, thus bringing up its ranking to the 12th position in the last quarter.

Nikkei Asia also reported that legacy automakers from Japan, Europe, and the US have fallen short in the last quarter. For example, Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, posted a 4% drop in its global sales, while VW Group suffered a more significant decline in sales of 7%. While Hyundai still retains its position as the world’s third-largest automaker, the Korean automaker too was affected by declining sales, which were down by 3%.

Things were even worse at Stellantis, as its global sales plummeted significantly by 20% to 1.14 million in the last quarter, which has also prompted its then CEO Carlos Tavares to suddenly announce his resignation.