Large BYD Recall Could Help Tesla

Chinese automaker BYD just issued big recalls of two of its most popular models. Is this a chance for Tesla to gain some market share in China?

Published September 30, 2024, 6:45am ET · 1 min read

An aerial, eye-level view of a massive, dark grey industrial building prominently displaying the white 'TESLA' logo on its side. Below the logo, numerous loading dock doors are visible, numbered from 18 to 26. The foreground features an active construction site with green scaffolding, heavy machinery, and a long, elevated metal bridge structure. In the background, other industrial buildings and a hazy sky complete the extensive factory complex.
The immense scale of a Tesla manufacturing facility, visible with its prominent logo and numerous loading docks, underscores the company's transformation from early production struggles to a global industrial force. © Xiaolu Chu / Getty Images News via Getty Images

24/7 Wall St. Insights

China’s electric vehicle (EV) market share leader BYD has just recalled 97,000 of its vehicles. Parts of the steering control in these can cause fires. BYD is Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) primary rival in China, where the American company struggles with local competition.

According to Reuters, “The Chinese automaker is recalling Dolphin and Yuan Plus EVs manufactured in China between November 2022 and December 2023, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation.” The two models are among BYD’s most popular in terms of unit sales.

Tesla needs to take sales from BYD to increase its market share. However, BYD’s share in China is over 25%, while Tesla’s share is about 6%.

In August, Tesla had its best sales month of 2024. The U.S. car company sold about 63,000 units, up 37% from July. However, it continues to struggle to gain any ground on BYD.

Tesla needs BYD to make one or more unforced errors that could hamper the pace of its sales success. A huge BYD recall could fall into that category.

Three Warning Signs Ford Is in Trouble

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

All articles →