Tesla’s electric vehicle sales and exports in China have come back up to pre-shutdown output levels with 77,000 units delivered in August, according to the latest statistics.
The automaker has had a tough year in China due to COVID restrictions leading to factory shutdowns, a lower supply, and climate issues leading to power constrained, but it is looking to catch up during the second half of the year with a recent factory upgrade that is going to enable a ramp-up to a capacity of 1 million electric vehicles per year.
Tesla China Numbers
Tesla’s numbers for August are now coming out, and it confirms Tesla’s output is now going back to pre-shutdown capacity and ramping up.
The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said that Tesla sold about 77,000 made-in-China vehicles last month, which is up 173% month-to-month since Tesla delivered only about 28,000 vehicles in July due to its factory shutdown for the production upgrade, and up 74% year-over-year versus July 2021.
Those numbers include both vehicles that Tesla delivers in China and export from China to other markets – in short, the output at Gigafactory Shanghai.
In 2021, Tesla decided to take advantage of the production rate and turned Gigafactory Shanghai into its “export hub.” Just a year later, Tesla now accounts for half of China’s electric vehicle exportations.
Electrek’s Take
I see a lot of people claiming that Tesla’s demand in China is falling because its base Model Y – a very popular model for Tesla in China – went from a delivery timeline of 4-8 weeks to 1-4 weeks.
However, I don’t think that’s an indicator; it’s just that Tesla switches to local deliveries during the last month of every quarter and therefore, it is going to have units to deliver in September in China before it switches production back to international deliveries.
I wouldn’t put too much weight on that timeline, but Tesla certainly has more competition in China than anywhere else.
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