Elon Musk’s firm has seen its stock fall by about 31% so far this year with customers slow to transition away from fossil-fuelled motors

Chinese EV sales totalled 1.03 million in the first quarter of the year but it was the slowest quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2023

The drop in numbers comes despite steep discounts BYD has handed out on its vehicles, signalling that Tesla's global clout will not be easily challenged

Chinese carmakers are turning to Nvidia for advanced technology in an effort to compensate for what they currently lack in global brand recognition

Southeast Asia has emerged as one of the hottest EV markets and could boost Tesla at a time when demand is slowing in its two biggest markets: China and the US

Nissan’s Chinese sales dropped by 16% last year while Honda’s were down about 10% in the world’s biggest auto market

Both firms have seen their market shares squeezed by local rivals such as smartphone-maker Huawei and electric vehicle giant BYD, while a larger economic slowdown shadows China

The world’s two biggest EV-makers have been locked in a drawn-out and brutal price war in China since the beginning of last year

Reports of BYD’s plans to expand production in Mexico spurred speculation that the EV giant was looking for a way into the US car market

Auto industry lobbyists say firms like China’s BYD are benefiting from the North American free trade agreement at the expense of domestic carmakers

Exports have helped drive subsidised Chinese automakers' growth but they are now seeing pushback from US and European governments

The Chinese EV outfit is predicting a $4billion-plus net profit for last year despite intensified competition in the sector