Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD reports 2024 revenue over $100B, topping Tesla's sales

BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD logged a record 777.1 billion yuan ($107 billion) in revenue last year as its sales of battery electric and hybrid vehicles jumped 40%.

The report late Monday coincided with BYD’s launch earlier this week of its Qin L EV sedan, a mid-sized model similar to Tesla's Model 3 but at just over half the price. Tesla’s 2024 revenue was nearly $97.7 billion.

BYD’s net profit last year was about 40 billion yuan ($5.6 billion), up 34% from the year before.

Last week, the company announced it was rolling out a super fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps.

BYD’s Hong Kong-traded shares fell 3.2% on Tuesday, despite its upbeat earnings report.

The lion's share, nearly 80%, of BYD's sales last year were related to its automotive businesses. BYD reported it sold about 4.3 million pure electric and hybrid vehicles last year.

Nearly 29% of the company's sales were in markets outside Greater China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, last year, up slightly from 27% the year before.

The automaker has rapidly expanded its exports, though it has yet to try to sell in the U.S., where U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to raise tariffs on car imports. BYD faces a 17% tariff on exports of EVs to the European Union.

FILE - A display shows how the dual-mode electric S6DM sport utility vehicle from Chinese automaker BYD can be plugged into a charging station to recharge its onboard batteries, at the North American International Auto Show on Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Tony Ding, File)

FILE - Visitors check the China made BYD ATTO 3 at the IAA motor show in Munich, Germany, on Sept. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport, but took a circular route around the city to get there.

During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

Air Force One was parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located and the lights outside the plane were turned off.

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

President Donald Trump departs Trump International Golf Club in the presidential limousine, known as The Beast, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)