San Francisco, Jan 2 (IANS): Elon Musk-run electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla on Tuesday said it delivered 1.81 million cars in 2023, which is a 38 per cent growth (year-on-year).

In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, the company produced approximately 495,000 vehicles and delivered over 484,000 vehicles.

"In 2023, vehicle deliveries grew 38 per cent YoY to 1.81 million while production grew 35 per cent YoY to 1.85 million,” Tesla said in a statement.

Most of the year’s sales were of the Model 3 or Model Y (around 1.73 million), but Tesla said it also delivered 68,874 other vehicles too.

“Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve a great 2023,” said Tesla.

Meanwhile, Chinese automotive giant BYD toppled Tesla as the world’s top EV manufacturer, after the Shenzhen-based company sold a record 526,000 electric vehicles in October-December 2023.

For the entire year, BYD sold more than 3 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids, it announced.

Overall, the Chinese company sold about 3.02 million vehicles in 2023, an increase of about 62 per cent from the year prior.

It sold about 1.6 million battery EVs and about 1.4 million plug-in hybrid EVs.

Tesla had sold around 483,000 electric vehicles in the October-December period.