Elon Musk’s Tesla no longer reigns as the world’s largest electric vehicle producer.
The firm is now in second place behind China-based BYD, an auto giant backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which outsold it in the first six months of this year.
BYD saw a 315 percent jump in sales from last year – it sold 640,000 electric vehicles, while Tesla delivered 564,000.
And the China-based company is poised to sell 1.5 million EVs this year.
Tesla blames its slump on ongoing supply chain issues and sales disruptions in China after its operations were hit by coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions, according to Nikkei Asia that first reported on the matter.
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BYD saw a 315 percent jump in sales from last year – it sold 640,000 electric vehicles, while Tesla delivered 564,000
Tesla’s stock was down more than three percent on Tuesday morning, which is due to a quarter-over-quarter drop in vehicle deliveries for the first time in two years.
CNBC News reports that Tesla shares could fall more than 40 percent due to its weaker deliveries.
Along with supply chain issues, Tesla is also struggling to ramp up production at its two new gigafactories located in Austin, Texas and Germany.
Musk, however, is not shy about the struggle and called the new factories ‘gigantic money furnaces.’
And China-based BYD (pictured) is poised to sell 1.5 million EVs this year
Tesla’s stock was down more than three percent on Tuesday morning, which is due to a quarter-over-quarter drop in vehicle deliveries for the first time in two years
Regardless, Tesla’s deliveries were 27 percent higher than the year before and the reasons for the drop could be temporary.
But this has opened a window of opportunity for BYD, which sold 134,036 EVs last month alone, which is a year-on-year increase of 162.7 percent, Barron’s reports.
Tesla, on the other hand, delivered almost 565,000 electric vehicles in the first half of the year.
In the second quarter, Tesla delivered 254,695 EVs, a drop of 18 percent compared with first quarter deliveries of 310,048.
But June was the highest vehicle production month in Tesla’s history, according to Tesla.
Tesla may not be the largest EVs maker in the world, but its Model Y and Model 3 vehicles were named ‘the most American-made cars’ in a survey from Cars.com last month.
Tesla may not be the largest EVs maker in the world, but its Model Y and Model 3 vehicles were named ‘the most American-made cars’ in a survey from Cars.com last month
The survey was conducted by Cars.com‘s annual American Made Index, which awarded the Tesla Model Y compact SUV as the number one American-made car, with the Model 3 compact sedan coming in second.
The index is based on a specific set of data including where the cars are assembled, parts sourcing through the American Automobile Labeling Act and factory employment,
Jenni Newman, Cars.com editor-in-chief, said in a statement: ‘The composition of this year’s much-anticipated American-Made Index is particularly interesting in the context of our current marketplace, where high gas prices and scarce inventory meet peak consumer interest in electric vehicles and a heightened demand for American-made products.
‘That Tesla — an American-made all-electric make — appears frequently and high up on the list may indicate a coming alignment of market forces that could really explode once we break through microchip supply chain issues, especially if gas prices remain historically high. It also bodes well for other OEMs, including Honda, Ford and GM, working to diversify product lines with more EV and hybrid options.’
