Tesla sales numbers defy talk of China slump, with 200% boost in May

Tesla China sales jumped sharply in May, in stark contrast to a report earlier in June that said demand for the Californian EV maker’s cars were plummeting, a report that saw Tesla’s shared drop by 5% shortly after.

New figures released by the China Passenger Car Association (CAAM) and reported on by Reuters on Wednesday show that according to the latest auto sales data, Tesla’s wholesale sales in May were 33,463 vehicles, an increase of 202% compared with the same period last year and an increase of nearly 30% from the previous month.

At the same time, Tesla’s cumulative domestic sales in January-May this year reached 128,588.

This contrasts with an earlier report published by The Information that gained considerable media attention when it claimed that sales for Tesla electric vehicles had fallen considerably in May to less than 10,000 vehicles.

It is worth mentioning that the export volume of Shanghai-made Model 3 vehicles produced by Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory once again exceeded 10,000, reaching 11,527 units. In addition, Model Y sold 12,728 units in May.

The news comes as video footage showed 1,500 Tesla Model 3s made in Shanghai arriving at NSW’s Port Kembla – the most ever to date in one month for the port – in what will be a record-shattering quarter for the EV maker in Australia.

By the end of June, it is expected that more than 11,000 Model 3s will have been delivered to Australian drivers.

Another video has emerged from the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, where Tesla is also shipping Shanghai-made Model 3s. The line-up of 2,500 vehicles on the docks is another indication of the continuing demand for Tesla electric cars, which generally does not ship vehicles unless they have been ordered.

Since the Shanghai Auto Show, Tesla has been mired in negative news, from reports that the Chinese government had told staff they could not park Tesla cars in government car parks due to security concerns, to a disgruntled customer who protested at the recent Shanghai auto show.

Industry insiders have also said that Tesla sales may be affected, but from the current statistics it would appear that this is certainly not the case.

At the same time, the Chinese “new energy vehicle” (or NEVs, as electric cars are called in China) market as a whole also showed an upward trend.

According to statistics, the domestic retail sales of NEVs reached 185,000 in May, a year-on-year increase of 177.2% and an increase of 17.4% from April, far above the rise of 1.1% to 1.66 million for the wider auto market.

In addition, in addition to the Chinese market, Tesla’s sales performance in the European market is also on the increase. According to statistics, Tesla’s sales in the European market in April were only 1,244, and it increased to 9,143 in May.

While Tesla share values reached a high of $US900.40 ($1,164.30) in early 2021, values are currently sitting at $US598.78 ($A774.28).