the battle for top spot in the electric car sector heats up as he widely outpaces tesla in sales for the first time. plus, will taking drugs in tiny doses make you more efficient at work? we take a look at some of the worries in this trend in the worries in this trend in the united states. hello and welcome to asia business report. i am steve lai. we begin with byd, the chinese ev maker that officially overtaken the american giant tesla in total fourth—quarter sales. tesla's record deliveries of more than 480,000 vehicles in the last three months of the year was not enough

to cement its position in the top spot. the company's deliveries are the closest estimation to its sales figures. 0ur north american business correspondent erin delmore reports. byd calls itself the biggest car brand you have never heard of. but that may be about to change. the chinese automaker sold more battery—powered electric vehicles in the last three months of the year than tesla did. that's a first. the american company is facing headwinds. higher borrowing costs in the us led to slowing demand. but its lesser known chinese rival is enjoying tailwinds, including a massive domestic market, cheap labour and strong government support. and, unlike tesla, byd makes its own batteries. so controlling that part of the supply chain gives byd more flexibility to cut prices, which it did in the last part of the year, sending sales spiking. as my colleague has just reported, tesla's latest number puts byd ahead of the curve. the chinese ev maker reported

around three million in sales last year, but that number comprises both electric cars and hybrid vehicles. but even as the competition is revving up, it is worth noting that in terms of overall deliveries in 2023, tesla still has byd beat. however, the chinese ev maker could keep momentum, especially with government incentives like tax breaks. that is according to ray wang from constellation research consultancy whom i spoke to earlier. it is actually amazing to see that ev demand is still that strong and i think it is wonderful for byd hitting 529,409 vehicles in q4. put them on target at about 1.6 million for the year. that is an important figure because they are accelarating their units and their growth, but it's also not to say tesla didn't do poorly because tesla actually hit 1.8 million for the year. on a yearly basis, tesla came out ahead, but byd is showing a lot of momentum and growth, especially coming out of 2023. so, going into this new year then, how do you see it moving forward? how much profit does byd

actually make from sales, especially since both tesla and byd have actually slashed prices to boost sales throughout last year? well, this is the important thing — forget the other ev makers. byd and tesla ignited a price war around the world. byd has the batteries and the low cost in terms of wages at about $20,000-$25,000 per worker every year, and tesla has the scale and capabilities in its charging network and automation to get to be able to compete against byd's numbers. it is going to be interesting. tesla has bigger margins to date, but that is something that is going to be in contention for all of 2024. there is less tax breaks in the us, tesla will start to stop qualifying for them as we go into the new year, but you will see other incentives coming into play and also protection barriers going to happen in europe and in asia, europe and in the us, regarding byd cars entering those markets. it's going to be an interesting battle to watch.

ev industry for this year given the global push to become greener. we will still see growth in evs but there is pushback. not all countries have the infrastructure. china has the 100—megawatt small modular nuclear reactors. and a lot of coal—fired plants. the rest of the world does not have the electrification infrastructure. we'll see a slight blip into 2024 but there is still good demand. to learn more about the competition between tesla and byd, you can visit our website. or use the bbc news app. staying briefly on news about electric cars and another american ev maker that has hit a bump on the road is rivian, which reported close to 14,000 in deliveries for the quarter ending december. but that is much lower than wall street's expectations, sending shares down by more than 10%. in other news making headlines this morning, maersk has suspended all shipping through the red sea and gulf of eden untilfurther notice following an attack on one of its vessels from militants over the weekend. the danish logistics giant says

it will reroute some vessels around the cape of good hope in africa. houthi militants based in yemen and backed by iran have in recent weeks repeatedly attacked vessels in the red sea in response to the war in gaza. it has raised concerns about the disruptions to global trade through the waterway. by some estimates, about 12% of global trade and three million barrels of crude oil traverse the red sea every day. to india now. a nationwide strike across the country over a new law on hit—and—run cases appears to have been called off following negotiations between the government and transport bodies last night. our india correspondencejoins us bodies last night. our india correspondence joins us with more from mumbai. why are they are protesting this law that appears designed to save lives? essentially, they have been protesting the law because they feel it is too stringent, that it would take

them out of business. it mandates a ten year imprisonment on a hit—and—run case are nearly $10,000 in penalties. as opposed to only about two years in the previous law. that is why we saw these protests across the country, from the west to the east, even here in the financial capital, mumbai, we saw that about 70% of the truck were off the road yesterday. we also heard reports of stone pelting, and instances of violence and long periods and panic buying a petrol station. given that their fuel supplies has not been replenished two days. it looks like the situation will be better going ahead because the strike has been called off and the government has said the new law will not be implement without further consultation with all of the other stakeholders. thank you very much for that, speaking to us from mumbai.

before we go, what if having a very small dose of drugs could make a big difference to your productivity? it is a rising trend in the united states with encouragement from some big names, and that is causing increasing concerns. 0ur correspondent michelle fleury has this report. singing in the �*60s, psychedelic drugs such as lsd or magic mushrooms were associated with long, mindbending trips. hallucinations and hippies. exploration and transformation. today in america, some are taking such drugs in tiny doses in an attempt to improve focus, productivity and creativity. this is called microdosing. i would sometimes take it a few days in a row and then kind of not do it a few days in a row. curiosity, wonder. donald, whose name i've changed, microdoses on a regular basis. he says it helps him work.

it helps me get into this calm state of flow, right. so if you could do five hours worth of work in one hour, that is huge. not only are you doing that work, but you are more curious, you're more engaged. sometimes there's maybe a problem i want to solve or something i want to learn about and this gives me a way to think outside the box a little bit. hallucinogenic drug use has increased among those aged 26 and older with over 5.5 million people using psychedelics in 2019. as attitudes change and more people microdose in the workplace, some employers are embracing it too. you're taking a stand that it's polarising at times. shane heath is the founder and ceo of coffee alternative mudwater. not only does he support employees who want to microdose at work,

mudwater donates a portion of its properties to psychedelic research and education. somebody chooses microdosing as something that is helpful for them, they are free to do. we don't have a policy that encourages or supports the use of psychedelics, but we don't have a policy that polices it either. for my personal experience is anything i went through an experience i have had these substances, it was a personal choice to be an advocate. there isn't enough evidence yet to say if microdosing is beneficial in the workplace or even safe. and the drugs being used are illegal at the federal level. still, that has not stopped business leaders from indulging. microdosing in the workplace — it sounds like you think they have a role to play? 100%. this meant coaches start—up founders. 100%, yeah. most clients i would say in this day and age are not concerned around the legal pieces, although we do respect the laws, that's a seachange from, say, five—plus years ago.

there's a lot of advancement around the research and we see regulation change at different levels, local, state and national, over time. there are risks. the unsupervised use of recreational drugs could be psychologically damaging to those with certain mental conditions. but with renewed interest in psychedelics, advocates hope it will help gain mainstream acceptance. michelle fleury, bbc news, new york. that is it for this edition of asia business report. before we go, let's take a look at the trading day in asia. the hang seng is down 1.2% following on from what happened in the global markets. the big talking point is the tech heavy nasdaq. the sales of any apples iphone which don't seem to be going as planned ——

apple. that is it for us on this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. voiceover: bbc news - bringing you different stories from across the uk. jess was 13 when she decided she wanted her own flock of sheep. she started out with three. when i saw my original three, i knewi three. when i saw my original three, i knew i wanted them. now aged 15, she has a block of 14 and counting and the schoolgirl is financing her whole venture her self. girls will be spending money on going out or make up or something else. , , , else. yes, well, this is something _ else. yes, well, this is something i _ else. yes, well, this is something i have - else. yes, well, this is i something i have wanted else. yes, well, this is - something i have wanted for a long time and i thought about what breed and everything. my sheep are quite loving and really cute.— sheep are quite loving and reall cute. ,, ~ ., , really cute. she knows looking after sheep — really cute. she knows looking after sheep isn't _ really cute. she knows looking after sheep isn't always - really cute. she knows looking after sheep isn't always about| after sheep isn't always about being cute and cuddly. she recently worked single—handedly to keep one of her lands alive when its mother about it. should construction them what to do down the phone. this will

shop has brought a number of herfleeces. you had to pay more than the market value for the wire? it more than the market value for the wire? . , ., , more than the market value for the wire? ., ., , ., ., the wire? it was really good auali the wire? it was really good quality fleece. _ the wire? it was really good quality fleece. you - the wire? it was really good quality fleece. you can - the wire? it was really good quality fleece. you can telll quality fleece. you can tell the sheep are looked after. we wanted to support her new venture. is wanted to support her new venture-— wanted to support her new venture. , , ., ., venture. is this what you want to do when — venture. is this what you want to do when you _ venture. is this what you want to do when you finish - venture. is this what you want to do when you finish school? | venture. is this what you want| to do when you finish school? i want to be a farm that so obviously i will still be involved with livestock and farm animals butjust in a different way. hey, i am zoff with the catch up. tonight: a plane crash injapan, hip—hop in prison and cheeky cats in cambridge. first, we start injapan where five people have died on a coast guard plane after it collided with a passenger plane coming in to land in tokyo's haneda airport. a fire then started on the passenger plane,

but the 379 people on it were, luckily, safely evacuated. you can just see the dramatic scenes of that here as passengers fled the plane on inflatable slides. the coast guard plane involved in the crash was on its way to deliver aid to areas affected by a massive earthquake on monday, which caused homes to collapse and triggered a tsunami. the known number of deaths from it is now believed to be at least 48 and around 1,000 rescuers are searching for people who they think may be trapped under the rubble. next, this is cool — so a prison in scotland is putting hip—hop workshops on for inmates. the prison are doing this as part of a unique rehabilitation programme, which aims to provide inmates with a creative outlet and the opportunity to develop new skills. bernie has taken part. it's helped me get back to my normal self and better. i'm trying to be a better version than i have ever been.

definitely been a positive experience for me. let's finish with ten seconds of two cats being cheeky and adorable as they have made a cambridge garden centre their second home. fatty has been visiting it for 15 years now — yes, that is the cat's name, and now her brother george visits too. they really are making themselves at home, aren't they? i love it. you're all caught up now. see you later.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm paul scott at the bbc sports centre. here's what's coming up. a big moment for luke littler — the 16—year—old becomes the youngest ever person to reach the pdc darts world championship final. a depleted west ham secure a 4th—straight clean sheet as they're frustrated by brighton in a goalless draw at the london stadium. on a different track — the retired racehorses learning fresh skills before finding new homes.