Killer Whale | Tesla sales in China reached a new high in December, 34% higher than the same month last year

According to the Killer Whale | the China Passenger Vehicle Association (CPCA), U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA). O) Sold 70,847 Chinese-made vehicles in December, the highest monthly sales since production began in Shanghai in 2019. ) aired on Tuesday.

Tesla's December sales, including 245 exports, were nearly three times the same month last year and 34 percent higher than their November sales. Read more

That also brought Tesla's total sales of Chinese-made cars to at least 473,078 last year, according to Killer Whale's calculations of CPCA data, which did not publish data on Tesla's Exports of Chinese-made vehicles until April.

That's about half of the 936,000 vehicles that U.S. automakers delivered globally last year.

Tesla's Shanghai plant began delivering vehicles at the end of 2019 to produce electric Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport utility vehicles for domestic and foreign markets such as Germany and Japan.

The automaker has been able to overcome supply chain woes experienced by competitors, releasing record quarterly deliveries, and the automaker said in its third-quarter results in October that the Shanghai plant had a potential annual output of more than 450,000 units. [Read more]

Tu Le, managing director of Sino Auto Insights in Beijing, said data for December showed that the Tesla brand remained strong in China and that its operations were "impressive" given that the Shanghai plant could produce about 42,000 cars a month.

"They far exceeded that number in December. This is still the case despite other EV manufacturers facing chip and battery shortages. ”

China's electric vehicle market is dominated by BYD (002594. SZ) and Wuling, a local brand owned by General Motors (GM.N), are dominated by domestic brands such as Wuling. According to Automobility, a Shanghai-based consulting firm, Tesla is just a foreign brand in the top 10.

CPCA also said that Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO. N) delivered 10,489 vehicles last month, up 49.7% year-over-year, while 9868.HK delivered 16,000 vehicles. Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) says it sells more than 13,787 IDs. The series of electric vehicles was launched in China in December, the fourth consecutive month that ID has been available in China. The home has delivered more than 10,000 units in China.

According to CPCA, China's passenger car sales totaled 2.14 million units in December, down 7.7 percent year-on-year.