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BYD has sold more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla for the first time, marking a breakthrough for the Chinese group’s efforts to expand into overseas markets.
BYD registered 7,231 fully electric cars in Europe last month compared with 7,165 registrations for Tesla, according to Jato Dynamics, the automotive data intelligence firm. Tesla’s monthly volume was down 49 per cent year-on-year, while BYD reported a 169 per cent jump.
The Chinese group’s registrations including plug-in hybrids soared 359 per cent.
The Chinese group’s aggressive expansion into Europe has coincided with a slump in sales for Tesla due to its ageing product portfolio and a backlash to Musk’s intervention into regional politics.
“This is a watershed moment for Europe’s car market, particularly when you consider that Tesla has led the European battery electric vehicle market for years, while BYD only officially began operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022,” said Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics.
Tesla’s sales have continued to decline in key European markets despite a recent upgrade of its flagship Model Y car. Musk has also announced that he was stepping back from his government role in the US to focus on running the carmaker after its first-quarter profits fell to the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2020.
The US EV company’s decline in Europe also comes as Renault, Stellantis and other brands have aggressively rolled out new battery-run vehicle models at more affordable prices to meet tougher emissions regulations in the EU starting this year.
For the month of April, Renault, Škoda, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW also outsold Tesla in pure electric cars.
On a global level, BYD has overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles driven by strong demand in its home market. But the Chinese group is a relative newcomer in Europe and its rapid foray into overseas markets has sparked alarm among western carmakers.
BYD and other Chinese groups have expanded their product line-up in Europe, increasing the sales of plug-in hybrids, which are not subject to EU tariffs of up to 45 per cent on EVs from China.
Registration of EVs made by Chinese carmakers rose by 59 per cent year-on-year in Europe in April to 15,300 vehicles, while plug-in hybrids increased nearly eight-fold to 9,649 units, according to Jato.
In recent years, BYD has launched eight models across more than 30 European countries, including the compact Seagull hatchback priced as low as €22,990, with virtually no direct rivals in the segment.
“We have a mission that we need to have all of BYD’s high technology and innovation reach as many customers as possible in the world,” Jolin Zhang, deputy managing director of BYD Europe, told the FT’s Future of the Car summit last week.
She added that BYD is offering a “full spectrum” of products from EVs to plug-in hybrids to cover “the diverse customer profile” across the continent.
The company plans to produce locally via its plants in Hungary and Turkey to address the tariffs, but some of those ambitions have been entangled in geopolitical tensions.
The European Commission is investigating whether China provided unfair subsidies for the company’s first European factory in Hungary, the Financial Times reported.
Its plan to build a factory in Mexico has also faced hurdles in obtaining approval from Chinese authorities, amid concerns that its smart car technology could potentially leak across the border to the US.
