Tesla China shipments fall again amid hopes for bumper quarter

DELIVERIES from Tesla’s Shanghai factory fell for a second month in November, despite an increase in subsidies from the Chinese government aimed at enticing more consumers to buy an electric car.

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker shipped 78,856 units last month, down 4.3 per cent year on year, preliminary data released on Tuesday (Dec 3) by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) show. That was up 15.5 per cent on October, however.

Tesla and local competitor BYD are among the big brands offering extra incentives to buyers in China, the world’s largest automobile market, in a final push to help meet year-end sales targets. Asia’s biggest economy is a hugely important market for Tesla and its showing there this quarter will be crucial to whether it can close out 2024 with record sales.

Tesla will have to sell a record number of EVs globally in the final three months of 2024 – at least 515,000 units – to make good on its guidance of “slight growth” in annual sales versus last year’s 1.81 million deliveries.

New-energy passenger vehicle wholesale deliveries more broadly in China meanwhile were estimated to be around 1.46 million units last month, up 51 per cent year on year, CPCA said. BLOOMBERG

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