In the January-March period, BYD was No. 1 with a 33.1 percent share, while Tesla was No. 3 with a 7.5 percent share.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) continued to dominate China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market in March, with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) moving up one spot to No. 2.
BYD's retail sales of passenger NEVs in China totaled 260,300 units in March, giving it the No. 1 position in the NEV market with a 36.6 percent share, according to a ranking released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The NEV maker was the only one with a share of more than 30 percent, with retail sales up 35.4 percent year-on-year.
BYD released figures earlier this month showing it sold 302,459 NEVs in March, up 147.29 percent from February and up 46.06 percent from a year earlier. The figures are wholesale sales and include both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
Retail sales of China's passenger NEVs in March were 709,000 units, up 29.5 percent from a year ago and up 82.5 percent from February, CPCA data released yesterday showed.
Tesla's retail sales in China in March were 62,398 units, down 18.6 percent from a year ago, and second with an 8.8 percent share.
In the CPCA's February retail sales rankings released last month, Tesla was third with a 7.8 percent share, below Geely's 8.1 percent.
It's worth noting that in China, NEVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel-cell vehicles. Many automakers like BYD and Geely produce PHEVs, BEVs, while Tesla only produces BEVs.
Tesla sold 89,064 China-made vehicles in March, including 26,666 exported, according to CPCA data released yesterday.
Tesla has a factory in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, both for deliveries to local customers and as an export hub.
Tesla's pattern is to produce cars for export in the first half of the quarter and for the local market in the second half, it previously said.
Changan Automobile's retail sales of NEVs in March were up 97.6 percent to 46,990 units, placing it third with a 6.6 percent share.
Geely's NEV retail sales in March were up 61.2 percent to 41,802 units, placing it fourth with a 5.9 percent share.
SAIC-GM-Wuling's NEV retail sales last month were 36,070 units, up 29.5 percent year-on-year, placing it fifth with a 5.1 percent share.
In the January-March period, BYD's NEV retail sales were 586,006, up 15.2 percent year-on-year, to take first place with a 33.1 percent share.
Geely's NEV retail sales for the period were 137,452 units, up 143.2 percent year-on-year, to take second place with a 7.8 percent share.
Tesla's retail sales in China in the January-March period were 132,420 units, down 3.6 percent year-on-year, and third with a 7.5 percent share.
In the passenger car market, which includes traditional fuel vehicles, BYD was first in the retail ranking with a 15.4 percent share in March.
FAW-Volkswagen was second with an 8.3 percent share in March with retail sales of 140,588 units, down 4.2 percent year-on-year.
Tesla had a 3.7 percent share of the Chinese passenger car market in March.
In the January-March period, BYD was No. 1 in the passenger car market in China with a 12.1 percent share, FAW-Volkswagen was No. 2 with an 8.2 percent share and Geely was No. 3 with an 8.0 percent share.
China's NEV retail rebounds to 709,000 in Mar, penetration reaches record 41.6%