For the first time in its history, Tesla, an American electric vehicle manufacturer, gave up its position as the world’s No. 1 quarterly electric vehicle sales position to Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and CNN on the 2nd (local time), Tesla sold about 484,507 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of last year.
This is about 40,000 units less than the company’s fourth-quarter sales last year. In its production and sales report released the day before, the company said it sold 525,409 electric vehicles between October and December last year.
Tesla has never missed the top spot in the global electric vehicle market in quarterly sales. However, Villadi’s rapid growth eventually gave it the lead.
Last year, Tesla delivered a total of 1.81 million electric vehicles worldwide. It met the annual forecast and slightly exceeded the WSJ forecast. It is up 38 percent from a year ago.
However, WSJ analyzed, “The growth rate has slowed slightly as the competition has entered a stage where the competition has intensified due to gradual business expansion and falling returns.”
On the other hand, BYD sold 1.57 million electric vehicles last year, a 73% increase from the previous year. Overall sales are less than that of Tesla, but the increase is twice as large. Additionally, the annual sales gap decreased from approximately 400,000 in 2022 to 230,000 last year.
Amid soaring demand for electric vehicles in China, the BYD model gained huge popularity as its low-cost, compact electric vehicle Seagal. Aggressive exports to Southeast Asia and Europe are also believed to have contributed to the model.
SALLY
ASIA JOURNAL
