MARCH is shaping up as a strong month for China’s electric vehicle makers with several reporting double digit sales gains after a slow start to the year due to seasonal holidays.

BYD, which overtook Tesla to become the world’s largest EV producer in late 2023, saw sales jump 46 per cent year on year to 302,459 vehicles. Pure battery electric cars accounted for 139,902 of those.

The three US-listed Chinese automakers – Li Auto, Nio and Xpeng – also reported a surge in deliveries that ranged between 14 per cent and 39 per cent in March.

Tesla, by comparison, is estimated by analysts to deliver 449,080 vehicles in the first quarter, globally. That would be down more than 7 per cent from the company’s record showing in the fourth quarter, which tends to be the best time of year for sales.

While Tesla doesn’t break out its sales geographically, shipments from its factory in Shanghai, where it makes the Model 3 and Model Y, are recorded separately by China’s Passenger Car Association. In February, the US automaker shipped 60,365 vehicles from its China factory, the lowest since December 2022.

Elon Musk’s car company has also reduced production at its plant in China, people familiar with the matter said last month. Tesla earlier this week increased the price of its most popular Model Y sport utility vehicle. That saw a slew of competitors offer sweeteners such as subsidies and coupons to lure would-be car buyers in response.

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The robust performance of Chinese brands came after a quiet start to 2024, a traditionally slow period due to the Chinese New Year.

Customers have been lured by BYD intensifying an EV price war by discounting many of its models and an unexpectedly popular reception to SU7, the first EV from smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.

Preliminary data for March from PCA showed that retail sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids in China probably rose 37 per cent year on year and 93 per cent month-on-month to 750,000 units as customers took advantage of the price cuts.

The wider passenger car market, including petrol vehicles, is forecast to have increased 3.7 per cent last month versus March 2023 to 1.65 million units, PCA said. BLOOMBERG