Is this the beginning of the end of BYD or can they turn things around soon?
BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker, reported that its first quarter 2024 sales fell 43 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, handing back the title of world’s biggest EV seller to Tesla after winning it last year. However, Tesla only took back the sales title based on first-quarter deliveries totalling 386,810, a decline of 20.2 percent from the prior quarter and 8.5 percent from a year ago.
BYD sold 300,114 EVs in the first quarter of this year, it said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late on Monday, down from a record quarterly high of 526,409 units sold in the previous three-month period, when it surpassed Tesla. The former brand’s first-quarter sales were up 13.4 percent from a year ago.
Moreover, Tesla’s decline comes amid softer overall demand and a slowdown in the Chinese market where local rivals led by BYD escalated the infamous price wars that have been going on there. Tesla sold 89,064 China-made vehicles in March, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Tuesday.
However, Tesla taking back the sales crown shows its global clout will not be easily challenged, especially as both companies expect a slowdown in Chinese EV sales growth this year. It also may signal the beginning of the end for BYD but I hope they take the crown back soon.
BYD sold 626,263 units of all vehicle types in the first quarter, up 13.4 percent from a year earlier, but down 33.7 percent from a record quarterly high of 944,779 in the fourth quarter, the stock exchange filing showed. March sales made up 302,459 units, a 46 percent jump from a year earlier and its second-highest monthly sales tally.
On top of that, BYD reported an all-time monthly high of 341,043 units in December. Sales of its purely electric models hit 139,902 in March, a 36.3 percent increase year-on-year, while sales of plug-in hybrids rose 56.4 percent to 161,729 units.
BYD has responded since February to the price war Tesla started early last year in China by cutting prices on the latest versions of its line up by 5 to 20 percent from earlier iterations. Last week, BYD set a 3.6-million-unit sales target for 2024, a 20 percent increase from its record-breaking sales last year.
We got all this from Reuters and their full article is linked here. Thank you Reuters for the information and images.
