China’s BYD expanded its sales lead over Tesla in Singapore in the first half of this year, government data revealed, emphasizing the challenge confronting the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker by sales from Chinese competitors.
BYD’s strong growth in Singapore, one of the region’s smallest auto markets, emphasizes the Chinese firm’s aspiration to rule the Southeast Asia market, where gasoline car brands from Japan and South Korea are popular and Tesla has yet to assemble a big existence.
The Chinese firm has had already had early accomplishment in the region, asserting Thailand as its biggest overseas market as it increases distribution collaborations with local conglomerates. Tesla on Tuesday reported its minimum profit margin in more than five years and missed Wall Street income goals in the second quarter, hurt by rising price competition from competitors amid a sharp slowdown in global EV demand.
Unlike, BYD posted a 21% rise in second-quarter sales and pursues its intrusive extension outside of China, including opening its first stores in Vietnam this week, where Tesla has yet to start vehicle sales. BYD has also scaled up its marketing attempts in Singapore, a small, wealthy island with a population of 5.9 million and where vehicle tolls are among the topmost in the world. It opened two restaurants where customers can feed on dishes reinforced by its car models and book a test drive.
BYD’s EV sales in Singapore jumped 83% in the first half of this year from the whole 2023 level to 2,587 units, while second-ranked Tesla sold just 28 more cars during the period than last year, laying 969 Teslas on the roads. There is little price difference between BYD and Tesla in Singapore, where car purchasers must purchase a certificate that costs about S$100,000 ($74,000).
Singapore wants to cease the purchase of combustion-engine cars from 2030. EV sales in the city state considered for around one third of total vehicle sales in the first half of this year. In wider Southeast Asia market, Tesla saw its market share fall to 4% in the first quarter of this year from 6% a year earlier, even as the global EV market grew by 37% during the same period, according to the recent data from research firm Counterpoint.
