Tesla Sales Slump As EV Registrations Rise In Britain, BYD Sees Surge

New battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations rose 10.8% in Britain in August despite a fall in registration of new Tesla Inc TSLA vehicles, according to industry data released Thursday.

What Happened: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that 19,113 battery electric vehicles were registered in August, marking an increase of 10.8% or 1,879 units from August 2023. The trade association pegs the rise in registrations to heavy discounting by EV makers, coupled with newer offerings.

American EV giant Tesla, however, saw new vehicle registrations drop 25% to 3,013 units. Tesla’s biggest rival and Chinese EV maker BYD Co BYDDY, however, witnessed an over 1000% jump in registrations to 438 units.

SMMT now expects about 364,000 battery electric vehicles to be registered through the end of the year, grabbing a market share of 18.5%.

Rival Performance: Overall vehicle registrations, across fuel types, fell 1.3% in Britain last month, owing to a 10% drop in registration of petrol vehicles in particular. Diesel and plug-in hybrid vehicle registrations also slumped 7.3% and 12.3%, respectively. August is traditionally one of the quietest months of the year for new car sales, SMMT noted.

“August's EV growth is welcome, but it's always a very low volume month and so subject to distortions ahead of September's number plate change,” SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said. “The introduction of the new 74 plate, together with a raft of compelling offers and discounts from manufacturers, plus growing model choice, will help increase purchase consideration and be a true barometer for market demand.”

Volkswagen continues in its position as the best-selling auto brand in the U.K., despite a 4% drop in new vehicle registrations last month.

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Courtesy of Tesla