American electric automaker Tesla is expected to take back the first spot in the global electric vehicle race from Chinese rival BYD in the first quarter of the year. Despite this feat, Tesla stock recorded another decline on Monday.
BYD’s delivery figures – Monthly and YTD
BYD officially released its electric vehicle delivery figures on Monday and shared them on social media platform X the following day.
According to the announcement, BYD’s passenger electric vehicle deliveries reached 301,631 units in March alone. Of that total, all-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 139,902 units (up 36% year-on-year). Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) had 161,729 deliveries (up 56% YoY).
For the entire first quarter, BYD’s delivery mix consisted of 300,114 BEVs (up 13% YoY) and 324,284 PHEVs (14% YoY). BYD’s delivery figures align with Wall Street forecasts.
Tesla to beat BYD’s delivery results
Despite BYD’s remarkable sales growth in March and Q1 2024, Tesla will still prevail as the world’s leading BEV maker in this period.
According to Barron’s, Tesla plans to release its official delivery figures on April 2. However, its analysis of recent Wall Street reports suggests the Musk-led company will reach total deliveries of 425,000-430,000 EVs in Q1 2024. This delivery range indicates a slight increase from the same period last year.
In hindsight, BYD successfully overtook Tesla in electric vehicle deliveries from October to December last year. The Chinese NEV giant delivered a total of 526,000 units in Q4 2023, surpassing Tesla’s nearly 485,000 units.
Stocks continue to decline
Waning demand and intensifying competition have influenced investors’ sentiment, causing electric automakers’ stocks to fall. Nonetheless, the EV market is undoubtedly continuously growing, as shown by BYD’s latest delivery results. BYD shares dropped 0.6% in foreign trading, indicating a 6% YoY drop. However, its faster growth has substantially backed the Chinese company’s stock.
On the other hand, Tesla stock dropped 0.3% to $175.22/share on Monday. For comparison, the S&P 500 was reportedly off 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.1%.
BYD remains committed to ultimately beating the Musk-led company as it seeks to advance as the world’s top-selling electric vehicle maker. On March 25, the Chinese company hit its seven millionth new energy vehicle (BEV+PHEV) production milestone. After just 4 days, Tesla announced the successful production of its six millionth BEV.
