Tesla (TSLA, Financial) reported that it delivered 68,280 China-produced electric vehicles in October, marking a 5.3% year-over-year decline and a significant 22.7% drop from the previous month. Despite this, domestic sales exceeded 40,000 units, showing a 41% increase compared to the same period last year. Model Y alone accounted for over 36,000 of these domestic sales, with cumulative sales surpassing 373,000 units this year in China.
Tesla aims to achieve a record-breaking global sales figure of at least 515,000 electric vehicles in the last quarter of 2024 to meet its annual sales growth expectation. It delivered 1.81 million units last year. Tesla's third-quarter report indicated that China contributed to more than half of its global deliveries during this period.
Meanwhile, Chinese competitor BYD has set a new monthly record with its Dynasty and Ocean series electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, witnessing a 66.2% year-over-year increase in passenger car sales, reaching 500,526 units. According to a BYD document, overseas shipments account for 6% of its total sales.
Tesla's third-quarter financial results exceeded expectations amidst increasing competition in the electric vehicle market, leading to a temporary stock surge of nearly 22%, the best single-day performance since 2013. Earlier this year, Tesla experienced layoffs in the second quarter, but promotions contributed to a year-over-year increase in third-quarter deliveries. Even though Tesla's shipments surpassed BYD's last quarter, the latter outperformed in revenue. In late October, Tesla extended its zero-interest financing plan, initially launched in July for select Model 3 and Model Y cars in China, until the end of November.
