Tesla's April sales of China-made EVs down 14.7% from March

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — Tesla Inc delivered 75,842 China-made electric vehicles in April, down 14.7% from March, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Friday.

The figure was however a huge jump from a year earlier, when the city of Shanghai — where Tesla has a factory — was in COVID-19 lockdown. In April last year, the company delivered only 1,512 China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars in the world’s largest auto market.

Local rival BYD Co, with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and hybrids, sold 209,467 vehicles in April, CPCA data showed, up 1.6% from March.

CPCA is expected to release more detailed China car sales figures for April next week.

Tesla has cut prices in several markets globally and kickstarted a price war in China that since the start of the year has seen more than 40 local and international car brands join in.

The price cuts have lowered automakers’ earnings, with Tesla reporting a 24% plunge in first-quarter net income even though its quarterly global deliveries reached a fresh all-time high.

The EV giant has however this week moved in the opposite direction, raising prices by up to $290 on its two top-selling models — Model Y and Model 3 — in Canada, China, Japan and the United States on Monday.

On Friday, it raised prices for its new Model S and Model X vehicles in China by 19,000 yuan ($2,751).

Tesla is readying exports of a version of the Model Y to Canada this year from its Shanghai factory, the first time it will ship cars to North America from China, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plan and a production memo seen by Reuters.

($1 = 6.9060 Chinese yuan renminbi)

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