Tesla‘s share of the Chinese BEV market was 10.61 percent in January, down from 12.68 percent in December.
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) retail sales in China fell significantly in January from December, while exports from its Shanghai plant grew as it dedicated more capacity to other markets at the start of the quarter.
Tesla China exported 31,566 vehicles in January, one of the top 10 carmakers exporting vehicles from China, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). That’s down 19.49 percent year-on-year, but up 72.17 percent from December.
The US electric vehicle (EV) maker has a plant in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, and delivers to both local customers and serves as an export hub.
The CPCA data released on February 2 showed Tesla sold 71,447 China-made vehicles in January, up 8.17 percent from 66,051 a year earlier but down 24.10 percent from 94,139 in December.
Today’s numbers mean that Tesla sold 39,881 vehicles in China in January, up 48.57 percent from a year ago but down 47.39 percent from December.
Tesla’s pattern is to produce cars for export in the first half of the quarter and for the local market in the second half, it previously said.
Of the 71,447 China-made vehicles Tesla sold in January, including exports, 41,873 were Model Y and 29,574 were Model 3, according to the CPCA.
China’s retail sales of passenger NEVs (NEVs), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), were 668,000 units in January, up 101.8 percent year-on-year but down 29.5 percent from December, according to the CPCA. This means that Tesla’s share of China’s NEV market was 5.97 percent last month, down from 8.02 percent in December.
BEV retail sales in China in January were 376,000 units and PHEVs were 291,000 units, according to the CPCA. This means that Tesla’s share of the Chinese BEV market was 10.61 percent in January, down from 12.68 percent in December.
January and February are usually slow months for auto sales in China because of seasonal factors.
Tesla’s major peers in China, including BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDF), Nio (NYSE: NIO), Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), all saw a significant drop in sales in January from December.