BEIJING, Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. electric vehicle maker

Tesla said on Friday its 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's sales in the world's largest auto market also

increased 12.8% in December from a month earlier to a record

high of 83,000 units, according to Tesla China.

In 2024, Tesla delivered 36.7% of its cars to customers in

China, its second-largest market, based on the sales figures.

But global deliveries nonetheless slid 1.1%, missing CEO

Elon Musk's earlier prediction of slight growth. Reduced

European subsidies, a U.S. shift toward lower-priced hybrid

vehicles and tougher global competition, especially from China's

BYD , were a drag on sales.

With full-year global sales of 1.79 million cars, Tesla was

still narrowly ahead of BYD, whose EV sales grew 12.1% to 1.76

million globally.

The U.S. EV giant downsized its global workforce last year

in the face of tepid demand and stiffer competition from Chinese

EV makers, and cut the size of its China sales team.

As an EV price war in China enters a third year, Tesla has

extended a 10,000 yuan ($1,369.99) discount on outstanding loans

for its best-selling Model Y as well as zero-interest financing

of up to five years for some Model 3 and Model Y cars until the

end of this month.

BYD, which has led a cost-cutting competition with its

Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and plug-in hybrids, overshot

its sales target, with passenger vehicle sales up 41% to over

4.25 million units last year.

The Chinese EV champion's overseas shipments rose 71.9%

to 417,204 units, or 9.8% of its global sales, missing its

export target of 450,000 for 2024, as it faces a 17% additional

tariff, the lowest the EU has assigned Chinese EVs from China.

Nearly one out of five BYD cars sold out of China was in

Brazil, where BYD and its contractor Jinjiang Group are facing

investigations by Brazilian authorities into the conditions of

the Chinese workers at the construction site of a local BYD

factory.