Tesla enjoyed its highest ever monthly sales in November since its factory opened two years ago, according to a report by Xinhua on Monday.
The company delivered 100,291 of its popular electric vehicles last month, which the Chinese state media outlet said was its best month ever since opening for production in Shanghai in late 2020.
The number was a 40% increase from October and nearly 90% more than a year earlier after the US automaker ramped up output at the Shanghai plant, cut prices for the best-selling models and offered incentives to Chinese buyers.
However, local carmaker BYD led all brands in China’s EV sales in November with 229,942 electric cars including plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
That figure was three times more than a year earlier and more than double Tesla’s tally, China Passenger Car Association data shows.
BYD was the top-selling car brand in China in the first four weeks of November, data from China Merchants Bank International shows, outperforming the Volkswagen brand in a reversal that highlights the pressure on legacy brands in the world’s largest auto market.
In the first 11 months of this year, Tesla delivered more than 650,000 vehicles, which was well over last year’s total of 484,130, according to Cui Dongshu, the secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.
The Gigafactory’s annual sales for 2022 could hopefully hit 750,000 units, Cui told Xinhua.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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