Australia's new electric car king? BYD outsells Tesla as cheap Chinese EVs soar in the first month of 2024

BYD appears to be making good on some of its bold sales promises in Australia, with the Chinese brand outselling Tesla for the first time in January.

Fuelled by the arrival of the Seal sedan, BYD's sales soared in January, with the Chinese brand shifting 589 examples of its newest model.

Some 465 examples of the Atto 3 SUV found homes in January, along with 256 examples of the Dolphin hatchback. All up, 1310 BYD vehicles were sold in Australia in January.

Tesla, on the other hand, is suffering something of a sales slow-down, with 1107 total sales (down 66.6 per cent year on year), with 723 examples of the Model 3, and just 384 examples of the Model Y, finding homes last month.

That's a big drop for Tesla, which presumably is down to supply constraints rather than demand issues, given the popularity of its vehicles.

Either way, it appears BYD importer Luke Todd's bold sales vision is at least starting to come true, with the brand aiming to be Australia's number-one brand, unseating Toyota, in only a handful of years.

"From where we started 18 months ago, we had one vehicle here, the Atto 3, to where we stand today with three vehicles, and by the end of next year we'll have five vehicles, two of which will be in the key segments of mid-size SUV and ute," EVDirect's Luke Todd told media.

"So our target is being a top-five brand somewhere within 2025, and then to continue to grow beyond 2026. We believe that's firmly achievable with the product range we have, the success of the Atto 3, the price point of the Dolphin and the Seal, and the interest we've had.

"So we've been very successful in the first 18 months, but with our trajectory, we believe we will continue to grow very strongly."