Tesla's China-made EV sales fall 15% y/y in May

BEIJING (Reuters) -A decline in Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales extended to an eighth month in May, as the U.S. automaker's sales woes were compounded by brutal price wars in the world's largest auto market.

Deliveries of China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, including both domestic sales and exports to Europe and other markets, fell 15% in May from a year earlier to 61,662 vehicles, after a 6% fall in April, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Wednesday.

Its China-made EV deliveries were up 5.5% from April.

Tesla's EV sales rout also continued across much of Europe last month, as its aging model lineup and CEO Elon Musk's political activities deterred buyers.

To spur sales in China, its largest market in the first quarter, Tesla last week offered smart assisted driving capability transfers to new vehicles in the country through the end of June.

Model 3 and Model Y vehicles were also added to a Chinese government-backed campaign to promote EV sales in rural areas for the first time this year.

The U.S. EV specialist, which ignited a price war in China in 2023 that has since pulled in more than 40 brands and is showing no signs of abating, is under pressure from new lower-priced but still high-performance models in the market.

China has urged a halt to bruising price wars, after BYD offered fresh incentives on more than 20 models in late May, prompting Geely Auto and Chery to follow suit.

Global passenger vehicle sales at BYD, Tesla's biggest rival, rose 14.1% year-on-year to 376,930 units in May, slowing from April's 19.4%.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)