Chinese automaker BYD has posted a 21% increase in second-quarter electric vehicle (EV) sales, closing the gap with Tesla after losing the title of the world’s top EV vendor to the US company in the first quarter, reports Reuters.
BYD sold 426,039 EVs from April to June, approximately 12,000 fewer than Tesla’s estimated deliveries for the same period. Tesla is expected to report a 6% drop in Q2 deliveries on Tuesday, marking the first time it will have posted two consecutive quarters of decline. This decline is attributed to intense competition in China and sluggish demand due to a lack of new, affordable models.
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Tesla may lose its EV leadership to BYD if actual results are lower than expected, with Barclays predicting an 11% drop in Q2 deliveries, Tesla’s largest ever. The company has faced a slowdown after years of rapid growth, and it warned in January that delivery growth in 2024 would be “notably lower” as the effects of price cuts diminish.
To address weakening demand for its aging models in China, Tesla has reduced the output of its best-selling Model Y by a double-digit percentage at its Shanghai plant since March. Meanwhile, BYD has maintained steady growth in EV sales, and other Chinese EV makers like Nio have reported impressive growth, with Nio’s Q2 deliveries more than doubling to 57,300 units.
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Price cuts and the growing consumer shift to EVs and hybrids from gasoline-powered vehicles have driven strong sales for Chinese EV makers in recent months, said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). In May, sales of new energy vehicles, including EVs and plug-in hybrids, accounted for 46.7% of total car sales in China, a new monthly high, according to CPCA data.
