China’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), BYD, revealed that first-quarter sales for 2024 dropped 43% from the fourth-quarter of 2023. This could indicate that BYD will relinquish its status as the world’s largest EV seller to Tesla, which it had held for the previous year.

According to a late-day report to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, BYD sold 300,114 electric vehicles in the first quarter of this year, a 43% decrease from the record quarterly high of 526,409 units sold in the preceding three-month period, when it beat Tesla. Sales for the first quarter increased 13.4% over the previous year.

However, based on projections for record sales of 458,500 vehicles in the quarter ending March 31, as per analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha, the quarterly decline may indicate that Tesla regains the sales title. On Wednesday, Tesla will release its first-quarter sales results.

Due to softer overall demand and a slowdown in the Chinese market, where local competitors led by BYD increased the ante in a price battle for customers, Tesla’s Q1 projection is down more than 5% from the previous three months.

Given that both businesses anticipate a slowing in the rise of electric vehicle sales in China this year, Tesla’s reclaim of the sales crown shows how difficult it will be to challenge its influence globally. It also shows how BYD’s domestic pricing reductions led to its brief domination.

According to a stock exchange report, BYD sold 626,263 units of all vehicle types in the first quarter, up 13.4% from the same period last year but down 33.7% from a record quarterly high of 944,779 in the fourth quarter.

With 302,459 automobiles sold in March, the company achieved its second-highest monthly sales total, up 46% from the previous year. In December, BYD recorded an all-time monthly high of 341,043 units.

March saw a 36.3% year-over-year growth in sales of its all-electric vehicles, reaching 139,902, while plug-in hybrid sales increased by 56.4% to 161,729 units.

Later on Tuesday, the China Passenger Car Association is anticipated to release Tesla’s March delivery statistics in China.

Since February, BYD has retaliated against Tesla’s pricing war, which it began early this year in China, by slashing prices on the most recent models in its lineup by 5%–20%.

BYD announced last week that it will aim to sell 3.6 million units by 2024, a 20% rise over its record-breaking sales from the previous year, according to sources cited by Reuters.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)