Byd de China sold more electric cars than Tesla in Europe for the first time last month, reflecting an aggressive thrust of the Chinese car manufacturer on the continent as well as the continuous work of Elon Musk among European buyers.
Byd has ahead of Tesla by less than 100 vehicles, according to data from 28 European countries published Thursday by Jato Dynamics, a research company. Byd sold 7,231 cars entirely supplied by battery in Europe last month, against 7,165 from Tesla.
Despite the small margin, it is “a moment in the watershed for the European automotive market,” said Felipe Munoz, analyst at Jato, in a press release. European car buyers seem ready to adopt Chinese electric cars, which remain cheaper than alternatives made locally despite the European Union prices last year aimed at protecting national producers.
Car sales fed by Byd jumped almost 170% in April, against the same month last year. This exceeded the pace of sales of all electric cars, which increased by 17% during this period.
At the same time, Europeans avoid Tesla, which for years was the most popular electric car brand in Europe. Its sales plunged 49% from one year to the next in April, passing Tesla to 11th in the classification of the month. In the first quarter of the year, he ranked second in sales of electric vehicles, behind Volkswagen in Germany.
In Europe, Tesla cars have become for the first time in Norway in 2014, before becoming the main producer of electric vehicles on the continent. He started production in a factory outside Berlin in 2022 – the same year that Byd began to sell cars in Norway and the Netherlands.
The Chinese automaker builds a factory in Hungary, as well as in Türkiye, which can export cars to the European Union without having to pay prices. This week, Byd announced that it would establish its European headquarters in Hungary, which, according to him, would create 2,000 jobs, especially in research and development.
In the past year, Byd has grown rapidly throughout Europe. If its rechargeable hybrid models are also included, it increased sales by more than 300% in April, compared to the previous year. According to this measure, it has also exceeded the European brands established such as Fiat, Dacia and Seat in certain major European countries.
Volkswagen, who has had trouble for years to compete with Chinese car manufacturers as well as Tesla, exceeded the list of electric car sales in April, with more than 23,500 new registrations, up around 60%.
Tesla sales in Europe had slowed down even before Mr. Musk, the CEO of the company, began to spend millions to support President Trump last year. But the backlash increased after playing a role in the White House which reduced thousands of jobs and made deep cuts to expenses, including for foreign aid. Last month, the sales of the automaker in Germany and Great Britain fell at their lowest point in more than two years.
