Tesla's new registrations of Chinese-built electric cars were down 24 percent in mainland China last month, industry figures showed. Some 11,456 registrations were processed in the country for the month, down from 14,976 in June, the China Automotive Information Net said, as Bloomberg earlier disclosed.
In comparison, Chinese EV company NIO saw its registrations grow four-fold to 3,533 in July, a record high, while European auto groups Daimler and BMW are planning to build their EVs in China as well.
Car sales for July are usually low, auto analysts said. And yet, China was still able to enjoy brisk sales, despite a retreat on a monthly basis. The Palo Alto, California-based car giant still maintains its dominant spot in EV sales in China even if the company's share in the market has seemed to dwindle.
Tesla's July sales figures were considered by analysts as "bearish." However, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the decline could be balanced by robust August figures and even numbers in the next few months.
In China, Tesla has been seeking new workers as the Elon-Musk led firm gears up for the launch of its much-hyped Model Y in the country, Reuters said.
Tesla has a tendency to ramp up vehicle sales at the latter part of each quarter. Thus, despite July's not-so-impressive numbers, the group can still dispose of around 150,000 EVs from China in the coming months, Ives noted.
In contrast, rival NIO's gross profit margin for the second quarter hit nearly 10 percent, which is the first time in as many months that its GPM in a three-month period bounced back, based on the carmaker's second quarter financial results. On the other hand, Chinese EV group Li Auto Inc. just secured more than $1 billion in its New York listing late in July.
Meanwhile, major car companies like Mercedes parent Daimler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are likewise preparing to roll out their own electric car versions, Bloomberg reported.
