(Reuters) Electric maker Tesla sold 59,845 China-made vehicles in the first month of 2022, a decline from 70,847 in December 2021.
Out of the total sales by Tesla, 67.8% were designated for export.
The fall came even as the China Passenger Car Association said that passenger car sales were down by 4.5% from the prior year after hitting 2.11 million in January.
The declining car sales are seen to reflect Covid-19 outbreaks, which have hurt production.
CPCA expects China’s passenger market to remain sluggish in February as sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks weaken demand while the economy continues to face slowdowns.
Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars were still double from the prior year after reaching 347,000 in January.
Electric car makers still continue to face headings of rising lithium and other materials prices, in addition to a reduction of state subsidies to new-energy car buys.
TSLA: NASDAQ is down -2.09% on premarket.
