BYD gained ground as Chinese market recovers, but Tesla is struggling to catch up
May 7, 2024 at 17:30
- Sales Of Teslas built in China were down 18 percent in April versus April 2023, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data reveals.
- Tesla’s Shanghai plant builds EVs for export as well as for sale within China.
- Chinese rivals reported higher sales as EV market recovered after several sluggish months.
Volkswagen isn’t the only brand struggling to handle rapidly improving native competition in China. So is Tesla, whose sales of China-built EVs were down 18 percent in April according to new data.
Tesla sold 62,167 cars built at its Shanghai plant last month, down more than a sixth on the number it sold in April 2023, preliminary figures from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) show. The data also reveals that sales were down 30 percent compared with March 2024.
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The story stretches beyond China’s borders because some of the Model 3 and Model Y EVs it builds in Giga Shanghai are exported to other markets, including Asia and Europe, and will be affected by the drop in demand for electric cars around the world.
Adding to Tesla’s concern is the knowledge that the overall market for EVs within China has grown. China’s Morning Star reports that sales of EVs in China this past April were up by a third to around 800,000 units as the sector fought back from a slow start to the year. A 25 percent decline in EV sales in February can be partly explained by the Chinese Lunar New Year falling in February this year instead of January, Reuters notes.
Having overtaken Tesla as the world’s biggest producer of EVs at the end of last year, BYD cemented its position by shifting 312,048 electric cars in April, up 49 percent on April 2023 and up 3.5 percent from March of this year.
Tesla announced last month that it would shrink its global workforce by 10 percent to reduce costs, and has slashed EV prices to boost demand and keep pace with aggressively competitive Chinese brands. The entire Supercharger team was reportedly let go at the end of April, several senior execs have left and 2,700 jobs will be cut at the company’s Austin, Texas, HQ.
The company is also rumored to have shelved its plans to introduce a next-generation gigacasting process, but did receive some good news when it secured the right to offer its Full Self-Driving autonomous tech in China.