Tesla gets another wakeup call from Europe | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

BYD’s European strategy is starting to bear fruit, propelling the Chinese electric vehicle maker ahead of rival Tesla (TSLA) .

BYD followed Tesla’s strategy by lowering prices to garner market share.

BYD sold over 4.2 million EVs in 2024, a record for the company. But BYD has had to pull out all the stops to break through, and now it is getting pushback for some of the tactics it employs to move vehicles.

In Europe, BYD launched its Dolphin Surf compact hatchback. The company’s most affordable model is priced from 22,990 euros (U.S. $26,128) with a 322 km range to 24,990 euros ($29,174) with a 507 km range.

A July promotion lowered that price to 19,990 euros ($23,337).

The pricing blitz coincided with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s declining favorability on the continent due to his vocal political extremism.

Now the company’s strategy is bearing fruit.

Tesla’s hold on the European market is slipping.

Image source&colon; Pleul/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

BYD takes the EU EV crown for a second month

The suite of alternative energy vehicles (battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and hybrid electric) sell better than classic petrol vehicles in Europe, according to data from the European auto lobby ACEA.

Up until August, BEV vehicles accounted for nearly 16% of the EU market share, an increase from 12.6% a year ago.

Hybrid-electric car registrations jumped to 34.7% of the market, and PHEVs were 8.8%.

Combined, gas and diesel car market share fell to 37.5% in August from 47.6% a year ago.

But even while EV market share is climbing, Tesla’s EU sales are declining. They fell 36.6% in the month, shrinking its market share to 1.2% from 2% a year ago.

Meanwhile, BYD’s sales rose more than 200%, giving it 1.3% of the EU market.

Tesla has some wins, many losses in the EU

Earlier this year, Tesla reported its second straight quarter of falling revenue with a 12% year-over-year decline to $22.5 billion.

Shrinking sales in Europe drove some of that trend.

While sales have dwindled across the brand’s markets, including North America and China, Europe has seen the most prolonged steady drop.

Tesla EU August struggles (registrations):

France: -47.7%
Sweden: -84%
Denmark: -42%
Netherlands: -50%
Italy: -4.4%

Tesla EU August triumphs (registrations):

Norway: +21.3%
Portugal: +30%
Spain: 161%

Tesla is faltering in Europe while BYD is ascending. However, BYD relies on a forward-looking strategy that hurts its current bottom line.

Tesla shares were down more than 3% at last check Sept. 25.

BYD reports first decline in quarterly profit in nearly four years

BYD reported quarterly financial results in August, showing a profit that declined year over year for the first time in three-and-a-half years.

BYD, the world’s largest EV producer, reported a second-quarter net profit of 6.4 billion yuan ($894.74 million), down 29.9% from a year ago. This is a stark change from the previous quarter, when the company reported a 100.04% increase in quarterly profit.

Revenue in the second quarter rose 14% to 200.9 billion yuan as volume increased, but lower prices ate into profits.

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Thanks to the strong first quarter, BYD’s first half profit is still up nearly 14% year over year, while revenue is up 23.3%.

Despite the pricing blitz, BYD, which gets 80% of its sales from China, reported a decline in China vehicle sales for the third straight month in July as production declined for the first time in 17 months, Reuters reported.

BYD has said it wants to sell 5.5 million vehicles this year, but it has only sold 2.49 million through the first seven months of the year.