CPCA: Tesla sold 78,906 China-made cars in June

SHANGHAI: As reported by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Friday, Tesla, the American electric vehicle manufacturer, sold 78,906 Chinese-made vehicles in June.

Passenger car sales in China in June were 1.97 million, an increase of 22% over the same period last year, according to the CPCA.

Despite restrictions to stop the spread of Covid in Shanghai, Tesla Inc.’s monthly shipments of China-made vehicles returned in June to a new high, a surprising turnaround.

China’s Passenger Car Association reported Friday that the US electric vehicle pioneer delivered 78,906 automobiles last month, increasing 145% from 33,155 vehicles delivered in the same period a year earlier and more than double the 33,155 vehicles delivered last year. Only 968 of the 77,938 electric vehicles produced in June were transported outside of China.

There were just 1,512 Teslas sent from China in April, and none were exported as a result of a three-week manufacturing halt caused by Shanghai’s punitive shutdown.

To reopen the factory, Tesla took unprecedented measures, including bringing in thousands of workers under a complex “closed loop” system that kept them on-site, segregated from their families, and subjected to random testing on an ongoing basis.

Employees were ultimately allowed to leave the workplace on June 10th, once the plant had restarted 24-hour operations and supplies and logistics had returned to normal.

According to the PCA, passenger vehicle sales in China reached 1.97 million units in June, an increase of 22% over the same month last year. There were 532,000 retail sales of new-energy vehicles, a 131% increase over June 2021.

For the next several months, demand for gasoline-powered vehicles is projected to remain flat as purchasers hurry to get in before the end of 2022 when government tax breaks for such vehicles, aimed at boosting automobile sales, are phased out, according to the PCA earlier this year.

In June, Warren Buffett-backed Chinese automaker BYD Co. delivered 133,762 new-energy vehicles, including all-electric and hybrid models.

In addition to previously stated steps to assist enterprises and consumer spending, China lowered in half the purchase tax on select low-emission passenger vehicles in May. As a result, a number of local governments and carmakers have offered incentives and subsidies to encourage purchasers.

Tesla’s June shipments were strong, but the same cannot be said for the company’s July shipments. The company aims to partially cease manufacturing capacity at various points throughout early August in order to improve production lines in Shanghai in the long term.

Model Y SUV production will be expanded to 14,000 units per week from roughly 11,000 units per week before the epidemic, while the Model 3 sedan production will be enhanced to 7,700 units per week from 5,500 units per week, according to people with knowledge of the situation last month.