Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) electric vehicle (EV) sales in China rose last week but were still running short of the pace seen in the fourth quarter, indicating the bump from discounted prices in its biggest overseas market is waning.
The U.S. automaker nearly doubled weekly retail sales in the week of Feb. 20 to 10,703 vehicles versus a week prior, showed data from China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) on Tuesday, which tracks weekly retail sales based on car insurance registrations.
The tally was the highest after that of the week of Jan. 9 when Tesla sold 12,654 Model 3 and Model Y cars after lowering prices by as much as 14% on Jan. 6.
However, year-to-date average daily sales was 1,016 cars, whereas in October and November the figure was 1,317, indicating that price cuts may not be enough to accelerate sales in the first quarter compared with the fourth.
Tesla didn’t immediately response to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Sales are slowing in part due to an ageing product line, said Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight. Consumers are also delaying purchases while waiting to see if other EV makers cut prices, Zhang said.
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