China Shipments Jump As Tesla Ends Record Quarter

As Tesla Inc. was wrapping up the quarter with a record number of vehicle deliveries, shipments from its Shanghai plant increased by a large amount.

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China's Passenger Car Association released preliminary sales data Tuesday for March, showing that Tesla shipped 88,869 vehicles from the factory. Compared with February, Tesla's wholesale volumes were up 19%.

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As far as Tesla's production figures are concerned, they are a better indicator than its deliveries, which were at a record high for the first quarter but fell short of some analysts' expectations last quarter. A concern arose that significant price cuts earlier this year did not increase the number of vehicles sold, which led the company's shares to plunge 6.1% on Monday.

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Before regular trading began in New York at 9 a.m. Tuesday, the stock climbed 1.2%.

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By slashing the prices of its locally made electric cars by as much as 14% at the beginning of this year, Tesla triggered a series of discounts and incentive programs for other car makers to respond. As a result, many companies have followed suit, including Chinese EV startups like Xpeng Inc. and Nio Inc. and international manufacturers like Volkswagen AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Ford Motor Company.

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This is the fourth consecutive quarter when Tesla has outsold its deliveries for the first quarter, with the company's global production exceeding its deliveries worldwide, up about 4% from the four months prior.

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According to a report published by the PCA on Tuesday, China's new-energy passenger vehicle wholesales are expected to be 600,000 units in March, an increase of 20% from February. Wholesales, in this respect, refer to cars shipped to dealers and delivery centers rather than to retail consumers as opposed to new cars coming off production lines.

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A portable home charger dubbed Cybervault, which Tesla released separately for the Chinese market on Monday, has been made available by Tesla. As the company stated in a statement, the charger will satisfy the charging habits of Chinese consumers, specifically because it was designed, developed and manufactured locally by teams, according to the company.