Tesla Sold 18% More China-Made Electric Vehicles in January

Tesla has cut prices in several markets globally and kickstarted a price war in China that since the start of the year. photo: Reuters

Tesla sold nearly a fifth more China-made electric vehicles in January, data published by the China Passenger Car Association showed on Friday.

The American EV giant sold 66,051 of its China-produced autos last month – that was up 18% from December, when the firm sold 55,796 China-made vehicles, and 10% more than January last year.

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Tesla’s Shanghai plant in December cut output by about a third from November, and extended a Lunar New Year holiday period for workers in January, to cope with a rising inventory.

The company now plans to step up output at its Shanghai plant over the next two months to meet demand spurred by price cuts early last month on its best-selling models, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a planning memo and a person with knowledge of the plan.

Tesla was the second best-selling electric vehicle maker in China last month after BYD which shipped 150,164 cars, the CPCA said.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.