Shanghai, China (AFP) — Leading Chinese electric car maker BYD’s vehicle sales surged in 2024, the company said in a statement, as the firm grows its overseas presence.

The EV and battery giant is the most prominent of Chinese automotive firms expanding abroad — plans that are increasingly threatened by thorny trade disputes between Beijing and the West.

BYD sold 4,272,145 vehicles last year, up 41.3 percent from 2023’s 3,024,417 units, the company said Wednesday.

In December alone, BYD sold 57,154 vehicles outside of China — a 58.3 percent jump from the same period in 2023. But BYD still sold almost 90 percent of its cars in its home market in December 2024.

The majority of the company’s 2024 sales were for plug-in hybrid models — 58 percent of total units sold.

BYD — which adopts the English slogan “Build Your Dreams” — is the biggest EV manufacturer in China, the world’s largest automotive market.

The company’s quarterly revenue surpassed global rival Tesla’s for the first time during the third quarter last year.

The initial rapid sales growth of BYD and its industry peers in their home market was facilitated in part by generous subsidies from Beijing.

The European Union (EU) has said that extensive state support has led to unfair competition, with an investigation by the bloc finding that Beijing’s subsidies were undercutting local competitors.

The EU announced in October that it would levy extra tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on Chinese EVs, prompting Beijing to say it would “take all necessary measures” to protect firms’ interests.

Earlier in 2024, the United States and Canada raised customs duties on Chinese EVs to 100 percent.

BYD’s figures come after global EV sales hit a record 1.8 million units in November, according to industry research company Rho Motion.

“This quarter has picked up significantly for EV sales globally as we see record-breaking month after record-breaking month,” Rho Motion expert Charles Lester said in a press release last month.

“However, the regional picture is somewhat uneven with Europe shrinking three percent this year so far and once more China accounts for over two thirds of the electric vehicles sold in November.”