SHANGHAI (Portal) – Tesla’s retail sales rose sharply in China in January after it cut prices on its best-selling models earlier in the month, data compiled by China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) showed.
Tesla’s average daily sales in China rose 76% to 12,654 vehicles in the period Jan. 9-15 compared to the same period in 2022, data from CMBI showed.
This compares to a 14.5% year-on-year decline in total retail auto sales in China in the same week, although sales of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country rose 36.5%, the data showed.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on CMBI’s sales data.
Tesla has slashed prices for its Model 3 and Model Y cars in China by 6% to 13.5% from January 6, amid what analysts saw as signs of slowing demand and increasing competition in the world’s largest auto market designated.
After price cuts in China and other Asian markets, Tesla followed with price cuts in the United States and Europe.
Huawei Technologies-backed electric vehicle (EV) brands Aito and Xpeng Inc have followed Tesla in lowering the prices of their electric vehicles in China.
Xpeng sales fell 36% year-on-year for the week of Jan. 9-15, CMBI data showed. Sales of Tesla’s larger EV rival in China, BYD, more than doubled to 40,435 vehicles for the week, including its EVs and hybrids, data showed.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Susan Fenton)