Tesla's China-made EV sales extend growth streak, but momentum fades

BEIJING, Sept 2 — Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales slowed to a gain of ​3.6% year-on-year in August, down sharply from the prior month, as divergent trends persisted across the U.S. automaker's ‌major markets.

Sales of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from its Shanghai factory, including ⁠exports to Europe, Asia ​Pacific and Canada, rose to ⁠86,166 units from the year earlier, marking the 10th straight ‌month of growth.

That's a ‌sharp slowdown from a 38% year-on-year rise in July ⁠though, data from the China ⁠Passenger Car Association showed on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, sales fell 7.9%.

August registration data highlighted diverging fortunes for Tesla across Europe, with strong increases in France and Denmark contrasting with weaker sales in Norway, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Italy.

The ‌U.S. automaker is grappling with intensifying competition ​in China, where home-grown rivals are introducing more affordable, feature-rich EVs, while pushing deeper into overseas markets to offset weak demand domestically.

BYD, Tesla's largest Chinese rival, generated more revenue overseas than in China for the first time in the first half.

Likewise, exports accounted for more than half of the ​vehicles produced at Tesla's Chinese factory in the second quarter, also ‌a first. Tesla's ‌share ⁠of China's battery EV market shrank to 6.6% in the second quarter from a peak of more than 15% in 2020.

The U.S. EV specialist is also navigating China's growing influence over automotive ‌safety rules, following a ​record recall announced in late August ‌that involved Tesla alongside ⁠several Chinese ​carmakers.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Ju-min Park; Editing by ​Sharon Singleton)

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