Despite Tesla’s own poor performance in the first quarter of 2024, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company has regained the title of top-EV seller in the world.
Tesla’s chief rival and China’s biggest EV maker, BYD, said sales across the first three months of 2024 fell 43% compared to the last quarter of 2024, according to a regulatory filing. The Shenzhen-based automaker sold 300,114 EVs between January and March, down from 526,409 units sold between October and December 2023.
While sales were up 14% year-over-year, they remained below Tesla’s 386,810 units sold in the first quarter. That means, despite Tesla falling short of Wall Street’s expected 457,000 deliveries for the quarter and recording an 8.5% sales decline year-over-year, the U.S. automaker is once again the top EV seller worldwide.
The quarterly decline for both EV makers comes as the crowded Chinese auto market is embroiled in a price war and dealing with slowed demand for electric cars. Tesla sold 89,064 made-in-China vehicles in March, according to the China Passenger Car Association, up from 60,365 EVs in February.
BYD sold 626,263 new-energy vehicles — a category that includes both plug-in EVs and battery EVs — in March, up 13% from a year prior. BYD said sales climbed 46% that month after falling in January and February.
In recent months, BYD has exacerbated the price war initially started by Tesla last summer, slashing prices and introducing new vehicles across its brands, including the super-cheap e2 and Seagull electric hatchbacks. Several carmakers responded by cutting prices on their own EVs. Tesla slashed prices earlier this year, but increased the cost of its Model Y lineup Monday.
There have also been newcomers into the market, such as smartphone maker Xiaomi, which saw its stock price — and market capitalization — skyrocket after a surge of interest in its first-ever EV. The Beijing-based company is now worth more than some industry titans, including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.
Tesla stock dropped almost 6% in Tuesday morning trading after the company announced its poor first-quarter deliveries. Shares have fallen more than 33% so far this year, making Tesla the worst performer in the S&P 500. The company is also no longer one of the top 10 U.S. companies by market capitalization, trailing behind Visa, JPMorgan Chase, and weight-loss drug maker Novo Nordisk.