Tesla Inc. increased shipments from its plant in Shanghai as the electric-car maker was wrapping up a record quarter of vehicle deliveries.
(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. increased shipments from its plant in Shanghai as the electric-car maker was wrapping up a record quarter of vehicle deliveries.
The automaker shipped 88,869 vehicles from the factory in March, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by China’s Passenger Car Association. Tesla’s wholesales were up 19% from February and 35% from a year ago.
The figures are a better indication of Tesla’s production than its deliveries, which reached a new high on a global basis last quarter while coming up short of some analysts’ estimates. The EV maker’s shares plunged 6.1% on Monday on concern that significant price cuts early this year yielded only an incremental gain in vehicle sales.
The stock rose 1.2% as of 9 a.m. Tuesday in New York, before the start of regular trading.
Tesla triggered a slew of discounts and incentive offerings from other carmakers when it slashed the prices of its locally made EVs by as much as 14% at the beginning of the year. Companies that followed suit ranged from Chinese EV startups Xpeng Inc. and Nio Inc. to international manufacturers including Volkswagen AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Ford Motor Co.
Read more: Tesla Started a China Price War That May Destroy Some Carmakers
Tesla sold 422,875 cars worldwide in the first quarter, up about 4% from the preceding three months. For the fourth consecutive quarter, the carmaker’s global production exceeded deliveries.
China’s overall new-energy passenger vehicle wholesales are estimated to be 600,000 units in March, an increase of 20% from February, the PCA said Tuesday. Wholesales refer to the number of vehicles shipped to dealerships and delivery centers as opposed to retail consumers.
Separately, Tesla on Monday launched a portable home charger for the Chinese market, dubbed Cybervault. The charger, which has been designed, developed and manufactured by teams locally, will specifically satisfy the charging habits of Chinese consumers, the company said in a statement, without elaborating.
(Updates with chart after the second paragraph.)
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