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Chinese carmaker BYD<\/a> is gaining momentum in the increasingly competitive global EV race, while the dominance of longtime leader Tesla<\/a> wanes.<\/p>\n The Warren-Buffett backed carmaker on Monday reported a 13% year-over-year increase in \u201cnew-energy\u201d vehicle sales, which includes both electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. In total, the company sold 626,263 vehicles in the first quarter, of which about 300,114 were pure EVs.<\/p>\n Although the first two months of the year saw sales slip, purchases jumped 46% in March, the company said.<\/p>\n BYD\u2019s strong first quarter performance contrasts with plummeting expectations for Elon Musk-owned EV maker Tesla, whose stock has dropped nearly 30% year-to-date<\/a>.<\/p>\n Several analysts have revised down their projections for the company\u2019s first quarter vehicle deliveries (an approximate gauge for sales), after reports of a cutback in production at Tesla\u2019s factory in Shanghai.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wedbush Securities cut their estimate to 425,968 from about 475,000. If Wedbush\u2019s prediction is accurate Tesla\u2019s vehicle deliveries will have grown less than 1% year over year, but would still be higher than BYD\u2019s pure EV sales during the same period. Tesla is set to report its first quarter vehicle deliveries on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Despite years of strong growth, Tesla has faced increasing competition from Chinese automakers, including BYD. The carmaker late last year surpassed Tesla for the first time as the world\u2019s biggest EV seller on a quarterly basis.<\/p>\n The global EV race has started to heat up, especially as lower-priced vehicles from China make headway overseas, much to the dismay of Western governments<\/a> and established carmakers such as Nissan and Honda<\/a> as well as Tesla. Besides BYD, Chinese carmakers such as Li Auto<\/a>, Nio<\/a>, and Xpeng also reported sales rebounds<\/a> in March after a weaker start to the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tesla critics and bulls alike have begun to sound the alarm about the company\u2019s performance, including Wedbush\u2019s Dan Ives, who said in an interview with CNBC last week that the company is in a \u201ccode red situation<\/a>.\u201d Ives reiterated his outperform rating on the stock with a price target of $300. The stock was trading at about $175 on Tuesday.<\/p>\n To boost sales, Tesla recently shed its aversion to digital advertising<\/a>. Musk has also promised many of its customers a free trial<\/a> of its $12,000 per year \u201cFull Self-Driving\u201d mode to help add more subscribers.\n
Still, Musk has cautioned investors that Tesla will likely face \u201cnotably lower\u201d<\/a> sales growth this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n