Investing.com — Tesla has registered a decline in annual shipments from its Shanghai factory, marking the first such drop since the facility began mass production in 2020.
Data from China’s Passenger Car Association (PCA) showed the U.S. electric-vehicle giant sold 93,766 China-made cars in December, representing a 0.4% decline compared with a year earlier. However, they were 18% higher than in November.
A report from Bloomberg said that the electric vehicle manufacturer delivered 916,660 vehicles from the plant in 2024, a 3% decrease from the previous year.
Meanwhile, Reuters noted that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) said sales in China climbed 8.8% in 2024 to a record 657,000 units.
The Shanghai facility is Tesla’s first factory outside the United States. Despite year-end incentives aimed at boosting sales, Tesla’s December shipments from the plant remained flat year-on-year, totaling 93,766 units.
The decline could highlight mounting challenges for Tesla, including intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers like BYD Co (SZ:002594). and lukewarm global demand, with a release yesterday showing annual global sales dropped for the first time in over a decade.
BYD, Tesla’s key competitor in China, reported robust performance, selling 1.76 million fully battery-powered vehicles in 2024. When including hybrids, BYD’s total passenger vehicle sales reached 4.25 million, underscoring its growing dominance in the market.