BYD faces Q1 sales decline, may relinquish top EV seller title to Tesla

BYD Q1 sales: China's leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, BYD, disclosed a 43 per cent drop in sales for the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter of 2023. This decline suggests that BYD might cede the title of the world's largest EV seller back to Tesla, a position it had claimed last year.

In a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday, BYD revealed that it sold 300,114 EVs in the first quarter of 2024, a significant decrease from the record quarterly high of 526,409 units sold in the preceding three-month period, during which it surpassed Tesla. However, first-quarter sales demonstrated a 13.4 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

The potential shift in rankings stems from forecasts indicating that Tesla is expected to achieve record sales of 458,500 vehicles in the quarter ending March 31, according to analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Tesla is slated to announce its first-quarter sales figures on Wednesday.

The anticipated decline in Tesla's Q1 sales, down over 5 per cent from the previous quarter, coincides with softer demand and a slowdown in the Chinese market. Local competitors, led by BYD, intensified a price war to attract buyers, challenging Tesla's market position.

Tesla's potential resurgence in sales underscores its formidable global influence, especially as both companies anticipate a deceleration in Chinese EV sales growth this year. It also highlights the transient nature of BYD's dominance, which resulted from domestic price adjustments.

Overall vehicle sales for BYD in the first quarter totaled 626,263 units, marking a 13.4 per cent increase from the previous year but a notable 33.7 per cent decline from the record quarterly high of 944,779 units in the fourth quarter, as indicated in the stock exchange filing.

March witnessed a notable surge in sales for BYD, with 302,459 vehicles sold, reflecting a 46 per cent year-on-year increase and ranking as the second-highest monthly sales tally. In December, BYD recorded an all-time monthly high of 341,043 units.

Purely electric model sales for BYD reached 139,902 units in March, a 36.3 per cent year-on-year increase, while plug-in hybrid sales rose by 56.4 per cent to 161,729 units.

The China Passenger Car Association is expected to release Tesla's March delivery figures in China later on Tuesday.

In response to the price competition initiated by Tesla last year, BYD has been adjusting prices since February, offering discounts ranging from 5 per cent to 20 per cent on the latest versions of its lineup compared to earlier iterations.

Recent reports suggest that BYD has set an ambitious sales target of 3.6 million units for 2024, representing a 20 per cent increase from its record-breaking sales last year, according to Reuters sources.

(With Reuters inputs.)