Tesla Powers Ahead As Made-In-China Sales Surge 142% In May

EV giant Tesla Inc TSLA sold 77,695 made-in-China vehicles last month, as per China Passenger Car Association data. The numbers are inclusive of both exports and in-China sales.

What Happened: The new numbers mark a 2.4% increase in Tesla China sales from April which came to 75,842 vehicles. It also marks a 141.6% jump from the 32,165 deliveries reported in May 2022.

Why It Matters: Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited China and said Tesla was ready to expand business in the country. The CEO also met with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd chairman Zeng Yuqun and China's commerce and industry ministers, among others, during the trip.

He also paid a visit to Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory and congratulated Tesla China SDS teams for their work. “Cars that we produce here [China] are not just the most efficient … but also the highest quality," Musk said addressing the factory.

However, earlier in May, Tesla issued a recall for more than 1.1 million vehicles in China.

The recall pertained to vehicles produced mainly in China but also a few imported vehicles and was in response to a problem preventing drivers from choosing the regenerative braking system.

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