Electric vehicle sales are recovering in China. That's some good news for automotive investors starting a new month. Hybrids, however, are still outpacing all-electric vehicle sales. That can make the coming months tougher on all-electric EV giant Tesla.
On Sunday, Chinese EV leader BYD reported sales numbers for May. The company delivered 330,488 passenger vehicles, including 146,395 battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, and 184,093 plug-in hybrid vehicles, or PHEVs.
Total vehicle deliveries grew 6% from April and 38% from a year ago. BEV sales grew 8% compared with April and 22% from a year ago. PHEV sales grew 4% compared with April and 54% from a year ago.
So far in 2024, BYD has sold 1,266,934 cars, up 27% compared with the same span of 2023. BEV sales totaled 580,974, up 19%. PHEV sales totaled 685,960, up 35%.
Export sales totaled 176,409 this year, up about 177% from the 63,753 vehicles BYD exported over the same span of 2023. Overseas sales accounted for about 14% of BYDs total passenger vehicle sales in 2024.
Overall, BYD's May results show that sales have been picking up. Chinese BEV sales grew about 9% in the first quarter of 2024. BYD's BEV sales grew 13%. Results in April and May showed faster growth.
BYD results also show that PHEVs are having a strong year. Car buyers in China and around the world are looking for an electrified car with solid range at an affordable price. PHEVs typically cost less than all-electric models.
In Europe, PHEV sales grew 10% in the first quarter from the same time a year ago, outpacing the 4% growth of BEVs. In the U.S., hybrid sales grew 65%, crushing the 3% growth for BEVs.
The U.S. hybrid figures include PHEVs and traditional hybrids that don't plug in, such as a Prius. (The Prius Prime model is a PHEV version of Toyota's most iconic hybrid.)
The BEV slowdown has weighed on shares of most EV producers. Through Friday trading, Tesla shares were down about 28% year to date, trailing the S&P 500 by about 39 percentage points. NIO stock fell about 41% year to date. Rivian Automotive shares were down about 53% year to date. BYD shares were up about 2%, behind the market, but helped by its mix of BEV and PHEV sales.
Tesla doesn't report regional or monthly sales figures. Its next delivery release will come early in July when it reports second-quarter delivery numbers.
Wall Street watches industry data to get a sense of what Tesla might report. In April, Tesla's Chinese production was down about 18% from a year earlier. In Europe, Tesla's sales dropped about 2%. Numbers for May will be available in a week or two.
For the second quarter, Wall Street projects Tesla will deliver about 452,000 units, according to FactSet, down from 466,000 delivered in the second quarter of 2023.