- It appears that Tesla is on the verge of regaining its title as the world’s leading electric car manufacturer.
- Chinese company BYD announced on Monday that its sales fell by more than 40% in the first three months of 2024.
- Elon Musk’s company is expected to reveal its own quarterly delivery figures on Wednesday.
It’s been a nightmare start to the year for Tesla – but the automaker may finally be about to have some good news.
Analysts expect Elon Musk’s company to regain its title as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles when it reports delivery figures on Wednesday, just three months after losing the top spot to BYD.
The Chinese company said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday that it sold about 300,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of 2024. This represents a 43% drop from the last three months of the year. last year for BYD.
Meanwhile, Tesla is expected to report delivering 458,500 vehicles in the quarter ended March 31, according to an analyst poll by Visible Alpha.
That would represent a 5% drop from the final quarter of 2023, but it would still be enough to push the Texas-based company away from BYD again.
Both companies have struggled this year amid signs that drivers are shifting toward electric cars and choosing cheaper hybrids instead.
Tesla’s stock price has fallen about 30% this year, reducing its value by about $230 billion. The drop has led some to question whether Musk’s company deserves its place in the “Magnificent Seven” group of mega-cap tech stocks.
Wells Fargo, Bernstein and Wedbush Securities have all reduced their price targets for the electric vehicle maker in recent weeks. A drop in deliveries would end a “nightmare quarter for Tesla,” Wedbush analysts said in a research note last week.
BYD’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 6% in 2024, dragged down by the Warren Buffett-backed company’s failure to meet its annual profit targets.
Investors also fear that the company will ultimately lose market share to competitors, including Xiaomi, which has just launched its first electric vehicle.
businessinsider
