The move came as data from the China Passenger Car Association showed the electric vehicle maker delivered 14.7% fewer China-made electric vehicles in April, compared to March

Analysts say an ageing product line, yet-to-be-upgraded navigation systems and an absence of luxury interior touches have also taken a toll on Tesla

The US carmaker's aggressive price cuts earlier this year helped it to stoke demand amid rising inventories

The US auto firm plans to ramp up output at its Shanghai plant over the next two months to meet demand sparked by price cuts early last month

Chief executive Elon Musk said the EV-maker's 2023 deliveries could hit 2 million vehicles, so long as there were no external disruptions

For most of 2022, Tesla joined rivals in aggressively raising EV prices but its decision to reverse course now challenges automakers’ established strategy of pursuing profit-over-volume

Several Tesla owners in Shanghai also said they felt misled by Tesla sales staff who told them they would face higher prices in the new year

Tesla has chosen to lower prices and take some additional downtime at the Shanghai factory to bring supply and demand back in balance

Rival Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD and the budget-EV joint venture of General Motors in China both outsold the US carmaker

BYD captured China's middle-class market with affordable and locally made EVs, pushing ahead of Elon Musk's Tesla, the SCMP said

Zhu's title of Greater China VP remains unchanged and he continues to hold the position of the US electric vehicle-maker's most senior executive for sales in the rest of Asia

Tesla and its suppliers have been falling sick in the current wave of infections in China, posing challenges to operations at the plant