Tesla Inc., in June, continued to expand in China, with its electric vehicle sales and registration rising to a record in the world's largest market as the ongoing global health crisis receded.
According to data from government-backed China Automotive Information Net, 14,976 China-made Tesla vehicles were registered in the country last month. That's a 32 percent rise from the previous month and the carmaker's highest monthly number so far, which is speeding up production after starting deliveries from its Shanghai facility around the start of 2020.
Tesla was also the best-selling electric vehicle brand in China in May, with sales increasing 205 percent month-to-month, based on figures by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
In April, sales were down 63 percent from the 10,161 vehicles that Tesla sold in March. Smaller competitor Nio Inc last week disclosed that its May sales climbed 216 percent year-on-year to a record 3,436 units. This represented around a 9 percent month-on-month rally.
Analysts said Tesla's stocks will continue to rise in price because of the target price bump by Credit Suisse and record-high car registrations in the country. China's affordable car market is slowly gaining from a two-year slump, while well-to-do customers are increasingly setting their sights on Tesla's electric vehicles. There are roughly 50,000 Tesla's electric cars registered in China so far.
Credit Suisse has increased its target price for Tesla, the Tesmanian Blog said. Analysts have doubled their target price to $1,400 from $700, though they don't exclude a price bump to $ 2,300 in the most favorable scenario.
Tesla shares soared 0.5 percent in New York trading before noon on Friday. Getting enough traction in China has contributed to the Palo Alto, California-headquartered group's rising market capitalization, which has breezed past Toyota Motor. It is now the most valuable auto manufacturer in the world in that aspect.
Tesla will roll out almost 4 million vehicles in 2025, including cornering around 7 percent of China's total car market, Alexander Potter, an analyst at Piper Sandler, estimated in a note this week as he elevated his price target to $2,322. That suggested a further upside of over 50 percent for the stock in the next four quarters.
Large-scale lockdowns in China had been eased early, as the spread of the novel coronavirus eased as well in the country, allowing for vehicle sales to bounce back.
Tesla's sales in the United States remain somewhat low, with vehicle registrations dropping almost 48 percent to 9,774 units in California in the first half this year, figures from marketing research group Cross-Sell, showed.
