BEIJING — BYD, China’s biggest electric vehicle maker, reported first-quarter sales fell 43 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, handing back the title of world’s biggest EV seller to Tesla after winning it last year.
BYD sold 300,114 EVs in the first quarter of the year, it said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange late on Monday, down from a record quarterly high of 526,409 in the previous three-month period, when it surpassed Tesla. BYD’s first-quarter sales rose 13 percent from a year ago.
But, BYD’s quarterly decline in volume means Tesla took back the sales title based on first-quarter deliveries of 386,810, a decline of 20 percent from the prior quarter and 8.5 percent from a year ago.
Tesla’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 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 illustrates its global clout will not be easily challenged, especially as both companies expect a slowdown in Chinese EV sales growth this year. It also demonstrates that BYD’s short-lived dominance followed from its domestic price cuts.
BYD sold 626,263 of all vehicle types in the first quarter, up 13 percent from a year earlier, but down 34 percent from a record quarterly high of 944,779 in the fourth quarter, the stock exchange filing showed.
March sales were 302,459 vehicles, a 46 percent jump from a year earlier and its second-highest monthly sales tally. BYD reported an all-time monthly high of 341,043 in December.
Sales of its full electric models hit 139,902 in March, a 36 percent increase year-on-year, while sales of plug-in hybrids rose 56 percent to 161,729.
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 lineup by 5 to 20 percent from earlier iterations.
Last week, BYD set a sales target of 3.6 million for 2024, a 20 percent increase from its record-breaking sales last year, Reuters reported citing sources.