Tesla trumps BYD in China sales efficiency with real-time strategy
SHANGHAI (Reuters) — Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s strategy in China of real-time, aggressive management of its sales staff is giving its stores an edge over dealerships offering BYD (SZ:002594) and other brands in the world's largest auto market, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The U.S. company in the fourth quarter lost its crown as the world's biggest electric vehicle seller to China's BYD, but during the first 10 months of 2023 both companies grew their share of a slowing and highly competitive Chinese EV market.
Tesla sold more than 1,500 EVs in each of its Chinese stores on average in the first 10 months of 2023, up from 1,300 in 2022, data from China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) showed.
BYD in comparison sold under 600 cars per store in the same 2023 period including plug-in hybrids, similar to its 2022 performance, although overall it sold far more EVs than Tesla given its best-selling models cost half as much and it has 11 times as many local distributors.
«Tesla may have more throughput per store, but their growth is limited, especially when compared with BYD,» said Bill Russo, CEO of Shanghai-based advisory firm Automobility.
Tesla's China EV market share grew to 12% in the first 10 months of 2023, up from 10% in 2022, while BYD's share rose to 27% from 21% over the same period as its lower-end rivals stumbled, according to data from Automobility and the China Passenger Car Association.
Tesla's solid sales performance in China, its second-biggest market, provides a rare bright spot for the EV maker, which has warned of the impact of high interest rates on car buyers in other key markets like the U.S. and slowed plans to construct a factory in Mexico.
The automaker, which pioneered a
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