Tesla sales fell more than a third in May allowing China’s BYD to overtake Elon Musk’s electric car company in the UK, new figures reveal.They show Tesla registrations dropped 36% to 2,016 last month, compared to 3,152 a year ago, with its share of the overall market falling from 2.13% to 1.34%.In contrast, BYD saw its sales jump 400% to 3,025 in May, from 596 a year earlier.Its share of the market spiralled from 0.4% to 2.02%.Chand Chudasama, Partner at accountants Price Bailey, said: “Increasingly the switch to electric cars is being led by cheaper Chinese brands such as BYD at the expense of premium models like Tesla.“In the space of just a year BYD has usurped Tesla to become the UK’s leading electric car brand. “Future rounds of trade negotiations between the US and the UK will be a major factor in whether Tesla can maintain competitive pricing in the UK and shore up market share.”A Tesla car plugged into a charging point in central London (PA Archive)Monthly registration figures can be volatile.Factors behind the falling registrations can be hard to pinpoint but Tesla boss Musk’s wading into UK and European politics, including with attacks on Sir Keir Starmer and backing the Alternative for Germany Far-Right party, could have put off some buyers.Elon Musk with Donald Trump in a Tesla (REUTERS)Musk has also led the axing of public sector jobs by Donald Trump’s administration, before leaving the White House and has now launched stinging criticism of the US president’s tax and spending bill.Overall, the UK’s new car market returned to growth in May with a 1.6% increase in registrations.Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 150,070 new cars were registered last month, up from 147,678 in May 2024.This represented the best May performance since 2021 and was only the second month of 2025 with year-on-year growth.Registrations of pure battery electric new cars rose by 25.8% to take a market share of 21.8%, up from 17.6% a year earlier.The SMMT said this was partly a result of manufacturers offering discounts to boost sales.It noted that under the Government’s zero emission vehicle (Zev) mandate, at least 28% of new cars sold by each manufacturer in the UK this year must be zero emission, which generally means pure electric.Across all manufacturers, the year-to-date figure is 20.9%.SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “A return to growth for new car registrations in May is welcome but manufacturer discounting on new products continues to underpin the market, notably for electric vehicles.“This cannot be sustained indefinitely as it undermines the ability of companies to invest in new product development - investments which are integral to the decarbonisation of all road transport.“Next week’s Spending Review is the opportunity for Government to double down on its commitments to net zero by driving demand through fiscal measures that boost the market and shore up our competitiveness.”To receive the best stories in your inbox every day, click here to register for one or more newsletters from The Standard.
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