U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla said on Friday its China sales rose 8.8% to a record high of more than 657,000 cars in 2024, a strong performance in a competitive market in a year when its annual global deliveries fell for the first time.

Tesla Inc. recorded its first-ever drop in annual shipments from its Shanghai plant since the facility started mass production in 2020, a clear sign of the intensifying local competition and lukewarm global demand.

China's BYD, however, looks set to close the gap after reporting 1.76 million EV sales in 2024. The Shenzhen-based firm's total vehicle sales jumped more than 41% in 2024, year-on-year, to more than 4.2 million. The surge was powered mainly by sales of its hybrid cars.

The EV giant sold 1.76 million electric cars in 2024, per figures released on Wednesday, putting it within touching distance of beating Tesla.

Tesla achieved record EV sales in China, with December marking an 83,000-unit milestone, up 12.8% from November. For 2024, Tesla sold 657,000 vehicles in China, an 8.8% increase year-on-year.

Just a day after Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle maker Tesla reported its first-ever decline in annual vehicle sales in 2024, two other U.S. automobile powerhouses released data reflecting their biggest sales volumes in five years,

Tesla reported record-breaking sales in China for 2024, marking an 8.8% increase to over 657,000 vehicles sold in its second-largest market. This performance stands in contrast to the company’s first-ever global delivery decline,

Tesla has posted its first annual sales drop in more than a dozen years, sending its stock tumbling, as CEO Elon Musk has kept busy in the last half-year inserting himself into Donald Trump's campaign

Tesla reporting its first ever annual sales drop as a public company in 2024, slowing EV adoption, increased competition, and low gas prices.