Tesla back on top

BYD has reported its sales for the first quarter of 2024 dropped by 43 per cent compared with last year’s fourth quarter.

It means China’s biggest electric-vehicle maker has handed back the title of the world’s largest EV seller to Tesla after snaring it in 2023.

BYD sold 300,114 EVs in the first quarter of this year, which was down from a record quarterly high of 526,409 in the previous three-month period when it overtook Tesla. That said, BYD's first-quarter sales rose 13 per cent from a year ago.

Tesla made 386,810 first-quarter deliveries – a drop of 20 per cent from the prior quarter and down by 8.5 per cent from 12 months ago.

The American marque’s decline comes amid softer overall demand and a slowdown in the Chinese market where local rivals led by BYD upped the ante in a price war for buyers. 

Tesla sold 89,064 Chinese-made vehicles in March, up by 0.2 per cent from a year earlier. However, its global clout will not be easily challenged with both companies expecting Chinese EV sales to slow down this year. It also demonstrates BYD's short-lived dominance followed domestic price cuts.

BYD sold 626,263 of all vehicle types in the first quarter, up 13 per cent from a year earlier, but down 34 per cent from a record quarterly high of 944,779 in the fourth quarter.

Its March sales totalled 302,459 units, a 46 per cent jump from a year earlier and its second-highest monthly sales tally. BYD reported an all-time monthly high of 341,043 in December 2023.

Sales of BYD’s full electric models hit 139,902 in March for a 36 per cent year-on-year increase, while registrations of its plug-in hybrids climbed by 56 per cent to 161,729.