Tesla delivered 435,059 vehicles globally in the third quarter, down 6.67 percent from the second quarter. The decline was due to planned downtimes for factory upgrades, Tesla said.

BYD's passenger vehicle sales in the third quarter included 431,603 battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which are similar to Tesla vehicles, and 390,491 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

BYD sold 1,048,413 passenger BEVs in the January-September period, surpassing the 1-million-unit mark, up 80.1 percent year-on-year.

The Chinese NEV maker sold 1,021,842 passenger PHEVs in the January-September period, also exceeding the 1-million-unit mark, up 72.26 percent year-on-year.

BYD sells record 287,454 NEVs in Sept, surpasses 2 million this year