Tesla China shipments slip 5% in october after bumper quarter

TESLA’s Shanghai factory deliveries slipped in October, the unexpected softness coming after a record quarter for China shipments at Elon Musk’s carmaker.

The US electric vehicle maker shipped 68,280 Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport utility vehicles last month, down 5.3 per cent year-on-year and a sharp 23 per cent contraction from September, preliminary data released on Monday ( by the China Passenger Car Association show.

Tesla is facing strong competition in China, particularly from homegrown champion BYD, which saw its revenue surpass Tesla’s for the first time in the third quarter. Tesla remains more profitable however, with net income of US$2.2 billion in the third quarter compared to BYD’s 11.6 billion yuan (S$2.2 billion).

PCA said late last month that retail passenger vehicle sales are estimated to rise 8.2 per cent year on year in October to 2.2 million units. Sales of new-energy cars are expected to come in at 1.15 million units. On Monday, the association said that would be up around 58 per cent from October 2023. BLOOMBERG