Shanghai, Aug. 9 (BUS): Tesla (TSLA.O) sold 28,217 Chinese-made vehicles in July, nearly two-thirds less than the previous month, as a scheduled upgrade of its Shanghai plant lines disrupted production.
The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said the US automaker exported 19756 Model 3s and Model Ys from China last month. In June, it sold 78,906 vehicles and exported 968.
According to Reuters, Tesla China typically exports more cars at the start of the quarter with a greater focus on domestic sales at the end.
Tesla halted most of its production at its Shanghai plant in July due to an upgrade aimed at raising the plant’s weekly production to about 22,000 units from levels of about 17,000 in June, according to internal memos seen by Reuters.
The ramp-up in production at Tesla’s most productive manufacturing hub comes after production losses during the two-month COVID shutdown in Shanghai hurt the company’s profit margin in the second quarter.
The CPCA said total passenger car sales in China in July jumped 20.1% from a year earlier to 1.84 million.
It added that electric vehicle sales accounted for 26.4% of the total in July and increased by 117.3%, as sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles outperformed pure electric vehicles.
The association now expects full-year electric vehicle sales to reach 6 million units, up from the previous estimate of 5.5 million.
BYD (002594.SZ) led EV starters with 163,042 vehicles delivered in July, with plug-in hybrid vehicles making up more than half of its sales.
Nio, Xpeng (9868.HK) and Li Auto (2015.HK) delivered 10,052, 11,524 and 10,422 vehicles, respectively.
Sales of conventional hybrid vehicles in July were also up 81% compared to last year, with Japan’s Toyota Motor (7203.T) and Honda Motor (7267.T) leading in the segment.
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