BYD may lose its title as top seller of electric vehicles to Tesla after first quarter sales decline By Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) – BYD (SZ:), China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker, reported a 43% decline in sales in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, meaning it could regain its position as the world’s largest EV seller. You can. After winning last year, it changed to Tesla (NASDAQ:).

BYD said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late Monday that it sold 300,114 EVs in the first quarter of this year. This represents a 43% decrease from the quarterly high of 526,409 units sold over the past three months. . First quarter sales increased 13.4% compared to the same period last year.

But the quarterly decline could mean Tesla will reclaim the sales title, based on forecasts that it will sell a record 458,500 vehicles in the quarter ending March 31, according to analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Tesla is scheduled to release its first quarter sales numbers on Wednesday.

Tesla’s first-quarter estimates were down more than 5% from the previous three months due to a slowdown in the Chinese market, which has slowed overall demand and local rivals led by BYD have upped the ante in the price war for buyers.

Tesla’s return to the sales crown shows its global influence will not be easily challenged, especially as both companies expect a slowdown in Chinese EV sales growth this year. This also shows that BYD’s short-term dominance is due to lower domestic prices.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla sold 89,064 Chinese-made vehicles in March, a 0.2% increase compared to the same period last year.

BYD sold 626,263 units across all vehicle types in the first quarter, up 13.4% year-on-year, but down 33.7% from its quarterly record of 944,779 units in the fourth quarter, according to stock exchange filings.

March sales were 302,459 units, up 46% year-over-year and the second-highest monthly sales on record. BYD announced that it recorded its highest monthly sales volume of 341,043 units in December.

In March, pure electric vehicle sales increased by 36.3% to 139,902 units compared to the same period last year, and plug-in hybrid sales increased by 56.4% to 161,729 units.

Since February, BYD has been cutting prices for the latest versions of its lineup by 5 to 20 percent compared to previous versions in response to the price war Tesla started in China early last year.

Last week, BYD set a 2024 sales target of 3.6 million units, a 20% increase over last year’s record sales, Reuters reported, citing sources.