Tesla Led China BEV Production In April With Over 15% Of Total Market Share

Tesla occupied a 15.36% share of the Chinese market in April, producing 11,211 vehicles, making it the most active manufacturer among all automakers BEV in China.

In the Q1 2020, The main automakers in China felt the influence of the Covid-19. Production facilities were temporarily suspended, and consumers were not interested in active car purchases. Also, at the time of quarantine, the stores of all automakers were closed, so they physically could not sell the cars.

Nevertheless, Tesla, thanks to its sales model and high-quality cars, which are very popular, was able to keep their car sales at a relatively high level. In addition, Tesla cars became the best-selling in each month of the first quarter among all EVs sold in the country.

The measures that the automaker took at its factory in Shanghai, allowed it to quickly resume production and continue its buildup. In April, Tesla produced 11,211, which is almost 1,000 more than its closest competitor BYD, which was able to produce 10,315 cars.

The first and second place of the rating are the most significant, since the GAC, which is in 3rd place, was able to produce only 4,441 cars, which is 39% less than Tesla.

Covid-19 negatively affected the supply chain, which in turn had an impact on the production capabilities of the plants. So Tesla, during April, managed to produce about 2,600 cars a week, while its closest competitors, except for BYD, still cannot reach this production speed.

Source: Gaogong Industry Institue (GGII)

In general, compared with April 2019, the amount of NEV produced fell by 31%. However, in comparison with March 2020, their number increased by 41%. This indicates that the Chinese car market is starting to recover after the influence of Covid-19, due to which the automakers' factories were closed and their supply chains were broken.

Tesla currently adheres to the previously established plan for Giga Shanghai. Model 3 will achieve a production rate of ~ 4,000/week (or ~ 200k/year extrapolated run rate) by mid-2020. Thus far, the company have been able to ensure component supply in order to continue operations at the facility.