Sales in China of Tesla's electric vehicles made in China rebounded to hit a record in May, five months after the first cars from the Shanghai Gigafactory were delivered to customers.
According to data from China Automotive Information Net, cited by Bloomberg, registrations of China-made Teslas numbered 11,364 last month-the highest monthly registration figure so far, rebounding from slow sales earlier this year due to the lockdowns in China amid the coronavirus pandemic.
LMC Automotive, an auto consultancy, has estimated that Tesla's registrations in China - including registrations of imported Teslas - jumped by 150 percent to 11,565 cars in May compared to April, Reuters reported on Monday.
The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said last week that Tesla's sales of the Shanghai Gigafactory-made Model 3 alone tripled from April to 11,095 vehicles sold in May.
The May sales and registration figures suggest that the Chinese automobile market is recovering and that Tesla made a good call to build the Shanghai factory to target a larger piece of the world's largest automotive market.
Shanghai Gigafactory, Tesla's first production facility outside the United States, allows the U.S. manufacturer to be able to compete on a level playing field with a growing number of Chinese EV manufacturers. As a U.S.-made vehicle, Tesla's cars in China have been subject to steep tariffs, and sales have suffered due to the U.S.-China trade war.
According to the CPCA, Tesla was the top seller of EVs in China in May, beating local competitors.
Last week, Tesla's stock hit an all-time high of more than $1,000, and analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities thinks that it has room to run to $1,500.
"While the stock has been roaring higher, we believe the main fundamental catalyst continues to be the massive China market which is showing clear signs of a spike in demand for Musk & Co. heading into the rest of this year," Ives wrote in a note quoted by Business Insider.
By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com
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