Tesla's April Sales From China Were Mostly Exports -- 2nd Update
May 12 2021 - 7:32PM
Dow Jones News
By Trefor Moss
SHANGHAI -- Tesla Inc. exported most of the cars produced at its
Shanghai factory in April, in a sign of how much the
electric-vehicle maker is using the Chinese plant to satisfy demand
outside the country.
The EV maker sold 11,671 locally built Model 3 and Model Y cars
in China last month, while exporting a further 14,174, according to
the China Passenger Car Association. It was the first time that the
association broke down the sales that way and comes amid questions
about the strength of demand for Tesla's electric vehicles in China
after a run of adverse publicity.
Tesla didn't immediately respond to questions. The company
doesn't publish monthly sales figures and releases only global
sales data each quarter. On Tuesday, the association said Tesla's
April wholesale figure of 25,845 was down 27% from March, worse
than the 12% month-on-month decline in overall electric vehicle
sales.
Some analysts have questioned whether there would be enough
demand in China to absorb most of the Shanghai factory's planned
output of 500,000 vehicles a year. While a portion of the company's
Chinese production could be earmarked for export, success in China
-- the world's largest auto market -- is key to the plant. Demand
from the rest of Asia is relatively weak, and Tesla is planning new
production plants in Europe and the U.S., its other main
markets.
Tesla started exporting Model 3s from China to Europe last year,
with 7,000 cars arriving in two shipments in October and December,
according to the company.
Tesla's new plant in Berlin is due to start production later
this year. The company has said the Berlin plant will initially
assemble the Model Y.
A second U.S. factory, which will complement Tesla's plant in
Fremont, Calif., is also under construction near Austin, Texas. The
company has said it would produce the Model Y and the Cyber
Truck.
Tesla'sThe Shanghai factory began exporting to Asia-Pacific
markets, including Australia and Japan, earlier this year, but
outside China, Asian demand for EVs remains limited. The U.S.,
Europe and China accounted for roughly 95% of global EV sales last
year, according to the website EV Volumes. Japan, the largest Asian
market outside China, accounted for around 1% of global sales,
compared with China's 41%.
Tesla has been caught up in a series of damaging headlines in
China that threatens to damp enthusiasm for its cars.
In April, a protester at the Shanghai auto show alleged that her
Model 3 had defective brakes, leading it to crash. Her protest went
viral on the Chinese internet, sparking debate about the safety of
Tesla cars and about the company's reaction when handling
complaints. The company issued an apology and pledged to work
harder to meet customers' expectations.
In February a group of national regulators summoned Tesla to
rebuke the firm over alleged quality issues, prompting a public
statement from the company and assurances that it would make
improvements.
Tesla notched up 95,125 wholesale China sales in the first four
months of the year, according to the passenger car association. It
is unclear how many of those cars were shipped overseas, with the
association having only released export numbers for April.
Chinese EV maker BYD Co., its closest direct competitor in the
country, sold 78,414 passenger EVs in China the first four months
of the year.
Raffael Huang contributed to this article.
Write to Trefor Moss at Trefor.Moss@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 12, 2021 19:17 ET (23:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024