By Michael Elkins
According to China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data released on Friday, electric vehicle giant Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) achieved its highest monthly sales of China-made vehicles since opening its Shanghai plant in 2019. Tesla sold 78,906 China-made vehicles in June, including 968 for export. In May it sold 32,165 vehicles and exported 22,340.
Tesla was handicapped by COVID restrictions in Shanghai during the April-June quarter that drastically slowed production. At the same time its new factories in Berlin and Texas struggled to increase output.
CEO Elon Musk had urged staff to work harder to make up for the losses at the end of the "very tough" quarter after China's zero-COVID lockdowns caused deeper disruptions to output than he had predicted.
China's overall passenger car sales in June totaled 1.97 million, up 22% from a year earlier helped by government measures, CPCA said. CPCA's Secretary General Cui Dongshu expected car sales in July to increase by around 20% from a year ago, while demand could further strengthen in the fourth quarter, leading to strong growth for the whole year.
On Thursday, China announced new measures to spur demand for cars, saying it would consider extending a tax break for electric vehicles and outlining plans to build more charging stations and encourage lower charging fees.
Sales of electric cars accounted for 27% of the total in June and increased 130.8%, CPCA added.