Tesla's (TSLA) Europe sales in April were exceeded by Chinese competitor BYD for the first time, multiple media reports said Thursday, citing market researcher Jato Dynamics.

BYD electric vehicles sales in Europe rose 169% year-on-year to 7,231 units last month while Volkswagen EV sales rose 61% and Tesla registrations fell 49% to 7,165 units even as European EV sales grew 28%, the reports said.

Tesla remains the second largest EV seller in Europe, the reports said.

BYD this week also launched a new fully electric hatchback priced at under 23,000 euros ($26,009), news outlets reported.

Tesla did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.

Shares were 1.5% lower in recent premarket activity.