Tesla's China sales hit record high in 2024, bucking global decline
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In December, Tesla's China-made EV sales including exports to Europe and other markets edged down 0.4% from a year earlier to 93,766 units, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Friday, pushing Tesla to the first annual decline in deliveries from its Shanghai plant.
January 03, 2025 15:31
The carmaker's record China sales while its worldwide deliveries fell is reflective of the global EV landscape as China is the only major market seeing robust growth versus a slowdown or even slide in other markets, said John Zeng, head of market forecast for China at London-based consultancy GlobalData.
China accounted for 70% of global sales of EVs and hybrids in the first 11 months of 2024, and over 90% of an increase in global EV and hybrid sales over last year came from China, industry data showed.
With full-year global sales of 1.79 million cars, Tesla was still narrowly ahead of BYD, whose EV sales grew 12.1% to 1.76 million globally.
The U.S. EV giant downsized its global workforce last year in the face of tepid demand and stiffer competition from Chinese EV makers, and cut the size of its China sales team.
As an EV
price war in China enters a third year, Tesla has extended a 10,000 yuan ($1,369.99) discount on outstanding loans for its best-selling Model Y as well as zero-interest financing of up to five years for some Model 3 and Model Y cars until the end of this month.
BYD, which has led a cost-cutting competition with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and plug-in hybrids, overshot its sales target, with passenger vehicle sales up 41% to over 4.25 million units last year.
The Chinese EV champion's overseas shipments rose 71.9% to 417,204 units, or 9.8% of its global sales, missing its export target of 450,000 for 2024, as it faces a 17% additional tariff, the lowest the EU has assigned Chinese EVs from China.
Nearly one out of five BYD cars sold out of China was in Brazil, where BYD and its contractor Jinjiang Group are facing
investigations by Brazilian authorities into the conditions of Chinese workers at the construction site of a local BYD factory.