Tesla Fares Worse Than Overall EV Market In April In China, Deliveries Drop 27% Over Previous Month

Tesla Inc TSLA sold 25,845 units of its Shanghai-made electric vehicles in April, according to a report from the Chinese state media Global Times that cited the data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

What Happened: Tesla’s monthly April sales in China jumped seven-folds compared with a year ago but sales during the month were significantly lower on a sequential basis. 

The California-based electric automaker had sold 35,478 units in March this year, representing a 27% drop on a sequential basis, while the overall EV market saw a significantly smaller 12% month-on-month decline, MarketWatch earlier noted.

According to the CPCA data, the overall China passenger vehicle sales grew 12.4% to 1.6 million vehicles in April compared with a year ago. EVs sales nearly tripled to 163,000 vehicles. 

Tesla’s sequential sales dip in April was significantly more than its closest rivals in China BYD Co Ltd’s BYDDF and Nio Inc NIO which showed a drop of 1% to 2% in sales when compared with March numbers. 

See Also: Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Outdoes Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto In April EV Deliveries

Why It Matters: The significant drop in Tesla deliveries in China comes at a time when the company has been facing rough weather in the country, a market that contributes nearly 30% of the electric vehicle maker's global sales and is its second-largest market after the United States.

The Elon Musk-led company will later this year launch a platform for customers in China that will allow them access to data generated by their vehicles, according to a Reuters report.

Just last month, the EV maker became a media and regulatory target after a customer at the Shanghai auto show protested an alleged malfunctioning of brakes, the videos of which became viral.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 6.44% lower at $629.04 on Monday and were down 4.14% in after-hours trading.

Read Next: Apple, Tesla Earnings Reports Show An Increasing Reliance On China As A Market