Tesla Outpaces Chinese Rivals Li Auto and Nio with 17% Delivery Increase, Boosted by Government Subsidies

Tesla's electric vehicle deliveries from its Chinese factory have increased by 17%, even as competitors Li Auto and Nio face declining sales. The American automaker has defied the overall downward trend in the first half of the year, with increased government subsidies driving up sales.

The Shanghai-based Gigafactory 3, owned by American auto manufacturer, dispatched 86,697 units of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to local and international customers in August. This represents a 17% increase from July and a 3% rise from August the previous year, as per data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Even with the bounce back, the plant's shipments in the initial eight months of 2024 were 6 per cent lower than the 624,983 vehicles it shipped during the same timeframe the previous year.

"The monetary incentives provided by the Chinese administration to promote the buying of electric vehicles for replacement reasons have significantly aided Tesla and its domestic competitors," commented Tian Maowei, a sales executive at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai. "With the increasing preference for electric cars over gasoline-powered ones among younger drivers, Tesla's sales in China are expected to stay steady in the future."

Towards the end of July, Beijing increased the subsidies provided to electric vehicle purchasers by two times. This move came just quarter of a year following its introduction of incentives, aiming to speed up the transformation of the local car industry.