Tesla's China Sales Momentum Returning? Weekly Insurance Data Point To Strong Q1 Sales

With just under two weeks to go for the first-quarter deliveries update from Tesla Inc. TSLA, one data point suggests the electric vehicle giant could be priming for strong sales this quarter.

What Happened: Insurance registrations for Tesla's vehicles in China came in at 18,712 units for the week ended March 19, up from 17,032 in the previous week, CnEVPost reported. This metric is often considered a proxy for sales.

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The weekly number hit the highest for this year and more importantly, insurance registrations have been increasing for four straight weeks now. The recent week’s tally also represented the second-best on record after the 23,000 units in the week ended Sept. 25.

The Elon Musk-owned EV maker has been downwardly adjusting prices in China since October 2022 to kickstart demand in the COVID-19-hit country and to ward off competition. The company announced steep price cuts in early January, which had an immediate effect as was evident from the long lead times.

Tesla’s sales, however, trailed the insurance registrations for Warren Buffett-backed BYD Manufacturing Company Limited's BYDDY BYDDY vehicles. The company, which sells both plug-in hybrids and pure-play EVs, saw insurance registrations of 38,414 units in the recent week.

Why It’s Important: China is a key market for Tesla and accounted for a little over 30% of the company’s total sales in 2022. Strong sales in China should bode well for the company’s performance the world over.

Tesla is expected to announce its first-quarter sales on April 2 and Future Fund’s Gary Black said the consensus estimate calls for sales of 420,000 for the first quarter.

Price Action: In premarket trading on Tuesday, Tesla shares traded up 1.01%, at $185.10, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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