By Jiahui Huang


Tesla's sales in China dropped in April, while its Chinese rivals reported higher sales as the country's electric-vehicle market rebounded from a slow start this year.

The U.S. EV maker sold 62,167 China-made cars in April, down 18% compared with a year earlier, preliminary data from the China Passenger Car Association showed Tuesday. Tesla's sales were down 30% from March.

The CPCA estimated that total sales of electric passenger cars in China rose 33% from a year earlier to about 800,000 units in April, or 2% lower than March.

The industry association said it thinks the Beijing Auto Show and the government's trade-in program will further boost car sales in May.

Tesla retained its position as China's second-largest seller of EVs in April after BYD, which sold more than 300,000 units, rising 49% from a year ago and 3.45% from March. Warren Buffett-backed BYD overtook Tesla as the world's top seller of EVs in the final quarter of 2023.

Changan Automobile and Geely Auto ranked third and fourth with 51,682 vehicles and 51,428 vehicles sold in China, respectively.

Li Auto sold 25,787 units in April while Huawei-backed Seres sold 25,496 units. Xiaomi joined the ranks for the first time after launching its first EV in March, recording 7,058 sold units.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-07-24 0545ET