Tesla’s China-made EV sales volume fall 10.9% in Sept
US carmaker Tesla sold 74,073 China-made electric vehicles (EVs) in September, a 10.9 per cent decrease from a year earlier, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Sunday (Oct 8).
Sales of China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars were down 12 per cent from a month earlier.
Chinese rival BYD, with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and petrol-electric hybrid models, grew passenger vehicle deliveries by 42.8 per cent to 286,903 last month, from 200,973 in September last year.
Tesla, along with its China challengers, is bracing for a revival in consumer sentiment, buoyed by deeper discounts and tax breaks for green vehicles amid signs of the economy stabilising.
The company missed market estimates for third-quarter global deliveries on Oct 2 as planned upgrades at its factories to roll out a newer version of the Model 3 mass-market sedan forced production halts.
Tesla, which ships more China-made cars for exports at the beginning of each quarter while focusing on domestic deliveries at the end, almost doubled its China EV share from July to August.
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It unveiled in September a restyled Model 3 with a starting price of 259,900 yuan (S$48,598) in China, 12 per cent higher than the previous, and would start delivering in the fourth quarter.
Its Chinese rival Xpeng also launched a revamped G9 SUV to sell from 263,900 yuan, 15 per cent lower than the previous price.
Tesla, the largest exporter of China-made EVs, is also facing a probe by the European Commission into subsidies for battery-powered cars from China, along with Renault and other Chinese carmakers.
Tesla’s deliveries of China-made vehicles hit a record 247,217 in the second quarter. REUTERS
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