On January 2, 2025, people looked at the Tesla robot on display in the Tesla Cybertruck showroom in New York City.
Adam Gray | Reuters
American electric car manufacturer Tesla It said on Friday its sales rose 8.8% in 2024 to a record high of more than 657,000 vehicles, strong performance in a competitive market while its annual global deliveries fell for the first time.
Data from Tesla China shows that Tesla’s sales in the world’s largest auto market in December also increased by 12.8% from the previous quarter, reaching a record high of 83,000 vehicles.
According to sales data, Tesla will deliver 36.7% of its cars to customers in China, its second largest market, in 2024.
But global deliveries still fell 1.1%, falling short of the slight growth CEO Elon Musk had predicted earlier. European subsidies decline, the U.S. shifts to lower-priced hybrids, and global competition intensifies, especially from China BYDdragging down sales.
Tesla’s global sales for the year were 1.79 million vehicles, still slightly ahead of BYD, whose global electric vehicle sales increased by 12.1% to 1.76 million vehicles.
Faced with tepid demand and stiff competition from Chinese EV makers, the U.S. electric car giant last year shrank its global workforce and slashed the size of its sales team in China.
As China’s electric vehicle price war enters its third year, Tesla is offering a 10,000 yuan ($1,369.99) discount on outstanding loans on its best-selling Model Y and up to five years on some Model 3 and Zero interest financing for Y car until the end of this month.
BYD, which leads the race to cut costs with its Dynasty and Ocean series electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, has exceeded sales targets, with passenger car sales rising 41% to more than 4.25 million units last year.
The Chinese EV champion’s overseas shipments rose 71.9% to 417,204 units, accounting for 9.8% of its global sales, falling short of its 2024 export target of 450,000 units as it faces an additional 17% tariff. The EU’s lowest tariffs on Chinese electric cars.
Nearly one-fifth of BYD cars exported from China are sold to Brazil, where BYD and its contractor Jinjiang Group are facing investigations by Brazilian authorities into the conditions of Chinese workers at local BYD factory construction sites.
