Tesla vs BYD: Revenue, Sales, Vehicle Profit, and Margins

Green energy. Pexels Image.

This article compares several financial metrics between Tesla and BYD, consisting of revenue, vehicle sales, profit margin, and per car economics.

Let’s look at the details!

For other key statistics of Tesla and BYD, you may find more resources on these pages:

Sales

• Tesla production and sales by model,
• BYD worldwide sales: new energy and fossil-fueled vehicles,

Revenue

• Tesla revenue sources: automotive and energy,
• BYD revenue by region,

Profit Margin

• Tesla profit margin by segment: automotive, energy, and services,
• BYD vehicle margin and profit per car,

R&D Comparison

• Tesla vs Chinese EV makers,
• Tesla vs BYD,

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Definitions

To help readers understand the content better, the following terms and glossaries have been provided.

Currency Conversion: Yuan to USD: The exchange rate I used for converting the Chinese Yuan to USD is 6.79 CN¥ for 1 USD.

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Insight & Summary of Financial Metrics Comparison Between Tesla and BYD

The following analysis consolidates the trends observed across the comparison between Tesla and BYD in several financial metrics, consisting of revenue, vehicle sales, profit margin, and per car economics for the 2018–2025 period.

• The most consequential storyline in the dataset is a complete reversal of competitive position across every major metric. In 2018, Tesla held commanding advantages in revenue ($21.5B vs. $19.5B), gross margin (18.8% vs. 16.4%), automotive gross margin (23.4% vs. 8.0%), and revenue per vehicle ($75,412 vs. $23,176). By 2025, BYD leads in total revenue ($120.6B vs. $94.8B), vehicle sales (4,602K vs. 1,636K), gross profit ($21.4B vs. $17.1B), and operating profit ($6.0B vs. $4.4B). The crossovers are not marginal — they represent a fundamental reordering of which company is the scale leader, earnings leader, and volume leader in global electric vehicles.

• Revenue crossed in FY2024 — BYD is now materially larger by total revenue. Tesla’s revenue grew strongly from $21.5B (2018) to a peak of $97.7B (2024) before declining to $94.8B (2025). BYD’s revenue — crossing Tesla’s for the first time in FY2024 at $116.6B vs. $97.7B — grew to $120.6B in 2025. The 3-year average of $109.2B (BYD) versus $96.4B (Tesla) confirms BYD as the larger company by revenue, with BYD growing at +3.5% in 2025 versus Tesla declining at -2.9%. The revenue inversion is striking because in 2021, Tesla was 66% larger by revenue ($53.8B vs. $32.4B) — the crossover happened entirely within the 2022–2024 window.

• Vehicle sales divergence is the most extreme metric in the dataset. Tesla sold 1.81M vehicles in 2023 and has since declined for two consecutive years to 1.64M in 2025. BYD sold 3.02M in 2023 and grew to 4.60M in 2025 — a 52% expansion in two years. The 3-year average volume is 1,745K (Tesla) versus 3,966K (BYD) — BYD is delivering 2.3x more vehicles annually. This volume divergence is the primary driver of every economic difference between the two companies: BYD’s lower revenue per vehicle ($22,262 average vs. Tesla’s $43,713) is the direct result of serving a broader, more affordable market mix, while Tesla’s declining volumes despite maintaining a higher ASP reflect both competitive pressure and deliberate mix management toward higher-value configurations.

• Gross profit has crossed — BYD now generates more consolidated gross profit than Tesla. BYD’s 3-year average gross profit of $20.3B exceeds Tesla’s $17.4B. In 2024, BYD generated $22.7B in gross profit — 30% more than Tesla’s $17.5B. The margin rates, however, remain competitive: Tesla averages 18.0% gross margin versus BYD’s 18.6% — the narrowest gap in the dataset. The near-parity in consolidated gross margin rates, despite completely different price points and business mixes, reflects BYD’s scale manufacturing advantage offsetting Tesla’s premium positioning advantage. It is the most surprising bilateral metric in the comparison: two companies generating almost identical gross margin percentages from entirely different strategic postures.

• Operating profit has also crossed — BYD eclipsed Tesla in operating profit in FY2024 and maintained the lead in FY2025. Tesla’s operating profit peaked at $13.7B (2022) and has declined consecutively to $4.4B in 2025 — a -68% decline from peak in three years. BYD’s operating profit grew from $3.2B (2022) to $7.6B (2024) before pulling back to $6.0B (2025). The 3-year averages: $6.4B (BYD) versus $6.8B (Tesla) — Tesla marginally ahead on the 3-year average but BYD leading in the two most recent years. Tesla’s operating margin has compressed from 16.8% (2022) to 4.6% (2025) — the steepest margin decline in the dataset. BYD’s operating margin has expanded from 5.1% (2022) to 6.3% (2023) and 6.5% (2024) before easing to 5.0% (2025). The directional divergence — Tesla compressing, BYD expanding through a cycle — is the most important margin trend in the comparison.

• Automotive gross margin remains Tesla’s most durable structural advantage. Tesla’s automotive gross margin averaged 18.5% over 2023–2025, compared to BYD’s estimated 12.4%. The gap has narrowed substantially from its 2021 peak differential (29.3% Tesla vs. 8.3% BYD — a 2,100 basis point gap) to approximately 600 basis points in recent years. BYD’s automotive gross margin improvement from 8.0% (2018) to 13.5% (2024) — driven by battery cost reduction, vertical integration benefits, and scale economies — is the most impressive margin expansion story in the dataset. Tesla’s decline from 29.3% (2021) to 17.8% (2025) — driven by price cuts, higher manufacturing costs for new models, and energy/services mix shifts — is the corresponding deterioration story. The two margins are converging; at the current trajectory, they could reach parity within two to three years.

• Per-vehicle economics tell the most fundamental story about two different business models. Tesla’s revenue per vehicle averaged $43,713 — 2.0x BYD’s $22,262 — reflecting Tesla’s premium positioning in higher-ASP configurations (Model S, X, Cybertruck, premium Model 3/Y variants). Tesla’s gross profit per vehicle averaged $8,118 — nearly 3.0x BYD’s $2,750. Despite the absolute dollar advantage, Tesla’s revenue per vehicle has declined from $75,412 (2018) to $42,494 (2025) as it has cut prices aggressively and mixed toward volume. BYD’s gross profit per vehicle has been remarkably stable at $2,307–$2,917 across 2022–2024 before easing to $2,557 in 2025 — confirming that even at mass-market price points, BYD maintains consistent per-unit economic discipline. The question is not which company has better per-unit economics today (Tesla clearly does), but whether Tesla can sustain that premium as it scales its more affordable models against BYD’s improving quality and brand positioning.

• Structural Takeaway: The Tesla–BYD comparison in 2025 presents two companies at fundamentally different points in their trajectories. Tesla is a higher-margin, lower-volume company with compressing economics — generating $42,494 per vehicle but declining in both volume (-8.5% YoY) and profitability from its 2022 peak. BYD is a lower-margin, higher-volume company with improving economics — generating $21,140 per vehicle but growing volume (+7.7% YoY) and generating more consolidated gross and operating profit than Tesla in the most recent period. The competitive dynamic has shifted from Tesla-dominant to genuine parity with BYD beginning to lead on most volume and profitability metrics. The defining question for the next five years is whether BYD’s overseas expansion — at higher ASPs than its China domestic mix — can begin to narrow the per-vehicle economics gap while Tesla develops its affordable volume strategy.

The table below combines all key comparison metrics between Tesla and BYD into a single view for the latest three fiscal years.

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Tesla vs BYD’s Consolidated Results: Revenue and Vehicle Sales

BYD reports its financial results in native currency Chinese Yuan. For the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and USD, please refer to this section: Chinese Yuan to USD conversion.

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Tesla vs BYD’s Consolidated Profit: Gross and Operating Profit

BYD reports its financial results in native currency Chinese Yuan. For the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and USD, please refer to this section: Chinese Yuan to USD conversion.

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Tesla vs BYD’s Consolidated Margins: Gross and Operating Margin

BYD reports its financial results in native currency Chinese Yuan. For the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and USD, please refer to this section: Chinese Yuan to USD conversion.

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Tesla vs BYD’s Automotive Results: Revenue, Gross Profit, and Gross Margin

BYD reports its financial results in native currency Chinese Yuan. For the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and USD, please refer to this section: Chinese Yuan to USD conversion.

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Tesla vs BYD’s Per Car Results: Revenue and Gross Profit Per Vehicle

BYD reports its financial results in native currency Chinese Yuan. For the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and USD, please refer to this section: Chinese Yuan to USD conversion.

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References and Credits

1. All financial figures presented were obtained and referenced from the companies’ respective annual and quarterly reports published on the following investor relations pages:

– Tesla Investor Relations
– BYD Investor Relations.

2. Pexels Images.

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Disclosure

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist us in writing some of the text in this article. However, the data is directly obtained from original sources (usually the quarterly and annual reports) and meticulously cross-checked by our editors multiple times to ensure its accuracy and reliability.

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